Here We Go Again
by Neale
Summary: AU Harryverse drabble Dumbledore, some Weasleys, Snape and others don't fare well. Some violence and mature concepts. At least there's one that I don't need to go back and finish ; )
1. Here We Go Again

**I had the urge to dabble in the Harryverse again. This will be another AU time travel version, a little more violent than my previous efforts.**

 **Anyone who likes the Dursleys, Dumbledore, Molly, Ron, Ginny, Percy, Snape, Filch, the Malfoys, Death Eaters, the Abbots or the Macmillans won't like this because they are not portrayed favourably. There _will_ be a plural marriage in the story, please note that this is _not_ a 'harem', it is a _plural marriage_ in accordance with the medieval laws (Brehon law and the like). Another thing which should be remembered is that Harry and Hermione are mentally eighteen and nineteen at the beginning and have been through all the horrors of the war and other abuse so no, they don't think or act like innocent eleven year olds.**

 **If people have issues with any of this, as I said you won't like this story so please do yourself and others a favour and just pass it by. Going through it purely so that you can pick out specific points to complain about out of context is just aggravating for everyone else.**

 **The first paragraph's a little gory but I often thought that that would be a fitting end for them so I decided to get it out of the way before I got into the story.**

 **Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

As everything faded to black as Uncle Vernon had his ruddy great meat hooks wrapped around his throat and was squeezing the life out of him, all Harry could think about was that none of it hurt any more and he was going to the nice lady and man, the ones who made him feel good. He was unconscious by the time two other beings popped into existence in the room and they were so enraged by the sight of that big fat oath hurting their Master Harry that the simultaneous blasts that hit him painted the entire room red with all of him but the hands that were still latched onto Master Harry's throat, and the two other humans who had been standing there watching eagerly with stupid, vicious smiles on their faces were caught in the blast and spread across the walls as well.

When the two beings popped into existence in St Mungo's with an almost dead wizard child who had a fat man's hands locked onto his throat, the healers didn't worry about the details, they just jumped to it, desperate to save this child. They removed those hands and brought him back from very the brink of death, aghast at the number of broken bones and other damage he had, and even more so by the extent of older damage to his frail little body, bones, organs, there was hardly and inch of him that wasn't damaged. The healers were furious when they discovered that the reason that the boy's body couldn't heal itself was because his magic and intellect had been so severely bound that it was a marvel that he could operate at all, but something about the malevolent presence they felt in that festering scar on his forehead stopped them from _trying_ to remove all those layers of bindings while it was there.

The healers instinctively knew that that presence was beyond the ken of wizard kind, but one of them was from a family who kept to the old ways, so she convinced the female of the two beings who were refusing to leave his side (she wasn't quite sure what they were, as they weren't human or like any goblins or elves she recognised but it was obvious that the smaller one was female) that they needed goblin assistance if the boy was to survive. The goblin healer that she brought back with her was enraged that anyone could do this to a child, because children came hard to the goblins so they were very precious to them. The goblin healer's grim satisfaction when they showed him the hands was a little disturbing to the other healers, but they could understand to a degree as they'd been glad to see that the bastard who did this to him had gotten his just desserts too.

They quickly pointed out that the child was obviously a wizard, because he had his Hogwarts letter clutched tightly in his hand but they'd given up trying to get it off him for fear of hurting him further. The fact that he had so much damage to his little body that it was a wonder that he was alive, that his intellect and core had been bound to criminal levels and that malevolent presence hardly needed to be pointed out, but they did, and the goblin healer nodded grimly. "Yes, you were wise not to release the bindings with that abomination there, as it would most probably have taken him over if you had. I cannot do anything about that here, will you allow me to take him with me, to try to heal him?"

The human healers looked at each other and nodded, and the one who'd sent for the goblins answered him. "Yes, we cannot help him with that, I'm not even sure that we have anyone here who is capable of getting rid of all those bindings on him, that was why I sent for you."

The goblin healer nodded as he sent a call for assistance to move the boy. "If you give me your names, I will ensure that you are told how the child fares if you wish?….."

The woman nodded. "Yes please! I am Healer Florence Nightingale…." She smiled quickly at the look he gave her "Yes, I was named after my famous squib great, great, great, great, great, great aunt…. and this is Healer Mark Johnson. _Please_ save him Healer, between that _thing_ and those hideous bindings on his magic, there was really nothing we could do for him beyond what we already have."

Other goblins were bustling around, preparing the boy to be moved but the goblin healer shook his head. "No, it is the two of you who have saved the child with what you have done Healer Nightingale, but with the gods' help we will rid him of the rest of this." With that, he bowed and vanished. The two beings thanked them for saving Master Harry and then vanished as well.

Only when they were all gone did the healers note that the hands had disappeared as well. Mark held Florence as she cried over the fact that anyone could do that to a child, and when she was done they wrote up their findings on the abuse and damage to the child, noting that his magic had been repeatedly bound to such an extent that his body wasn't able to heal itself so they couldn't save him and that he was gone. Making it appear that they were using 'gone' as a euphemism for 'dead' was as far as they were willing to go to cover up the truth of what happened to him…. they'd almost certainly be thrown out of St Mungo's and barred as healers (and probably stripped of their magic) if anyone ever found out that they'd handed a wizard child over to the _goblins_ , but they couldn't bring themselves to outright lie about it.

* * *

The next week was not at all pleasant for Harry Potter, having that thing ripped out of his head hurt more than anything Uncle Vernon had ever done to him, and it felt as though every bone in his body was being broken over and over again and he was being pulled and stretched in every direction all the time. Most those strange creatures around him were scary as well, and he was sure that they were responsible for all the pain he was experiencing, though those two who were at the hospital were different from the others, they were much taller (she was nearly five feet tall and he was about five or six inches taller), more slender with more attractive, human features, and they called him 'Master Harry' with feeling.

After removing the presence in the scar on his forehead and the criminal bindings on his intellect and magic, the goblin healers kept Harry asleep for most of the following week, waking him only to feed him the potions and the like that he needed to help his body regrow the way it was meant to be, because he was over six inches shorter than average and grossly underweight, not to mention all the damage done to him that his magic was bound too tightly to heal. By the time he'd finished growing, he was at least a foot taller and had filled out quite a bit.

The goblin who came to see him then was nothing like the beings that Harry had seen the other times he woke, this one was about five and a half feet tall, so he towered over all the hobgoblins, he had a thick mane of hair and his hands, ears and face were rather more human than their's, though when he opened his mouth he still had the same sharp pointed teeth. He studied Harry for a while and then nodded approvingly.

"You take after your mother Duke Potter, by human standards she was regarded as quite attractive, but more important to the people, you show every sign of having gotten her fine intelligence as well, and your father's better qualities to boot…. your parents have done well by you."

Harry was confused. "Excuse me sir, not to be rude, but what are you?"

The goblin threw his head back and laughed heartily. "So you have gotten your father's lack of tact as well! Thank you Duke Potter, I have not laughed like that since your parents were killed. As to _what_ I am... I am what is called a Thane, essentially a goblin noble, we were left by the _aes sídhe_ to rule and husband the goblin people who remained in the human realm when the rest of our people retreated from it. _Who_ I am is Gringott the Eighth, Head Goblin of Gringotts Wizarding Bank and Grand Chief of the Clans of the Goblin Nation of Britain…. I have also retained the role of Account Manager for the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter due to the special relationship your family has had with the Goblin Nation for well over two thousand years now."

Harry just looked more confused now, which made Gringott shake his head. "I am sorry Harry, I realise that all this must be rather overwhelming. Do you remember how you came to be here?"

He kicked himself when the boy's face clouded. "Yes, Uncle Vernon was punishing me again and I thought that I was finally going to the nice lady and man who I remembered holding me, but when I woke up I was hurting again, there was a nice lady and man there but it wasn't them…." He pointed to the two beings who were always there when he woke. "They were there too, and I could tell that they were worried about me. Then I woke up again here, it was terribly painful when something was being ripped out of my head, and I spent ages hurting and aching. They were there whenever I woke up and they kept calling me Master Harry, but I don't know why."

Gringott nodded. "I believe that it's time you were properly introduced to them..." he waved the elves over and when they arrived, he placed his hand on the smaller one's shoulder. "Duke Henry James Potter, I would like you to meet two of your most loyal retainers. This is Efa, she was meant to be your nanny. And this…" he reached out to clasp the other's shoulder. "Is Emyr, he was to share the duties of looking after you with Efa, but your parents were apparently put under some compulsion to move out of the Potters' ancestral home and they left them behind. Efa and Emyr are Reeves, the elves' equivalents of the Thanes, but they are only found at Potter Manor now because one of the founders of Hogwarts created something terrible when he descended into madness just before he died. He had become totally paranoid and believed that those families who had _aes sídhe_ blood because they'd been part of the original Druid Council, the Thanes and the Reeves were going to turn the hobgoblins and common elves against him and the other human druids, so he created a curse to corrupt the loyalty to the higher elves and goblins that was part of the common elves and hobgoblins' make-up and twist it into an unfailing obedience to and dependence on the druids. The worst thing about this abomination was that it was somehow passed on to other elves, including their children when they were born... we were just thanking the gods that the hobgoblins, or goblins as the wizards know them as now, were too wilful and independent for the compulsion to work on them, otherwise they would have _all_ become slaves of the druids. Some of the common elves are able to break these bonds but for the most part it harms or even kills them if the druids' bonds are broken, so as this affliction spread across Britain and beyond and ever increasing numbers of the common elves bonded to the druids, the Reeves retreated to Potter Manor to serve the last true Druid Lords because they could no longer carry out the duties they had been left here for... The important thing to remember here Duke Potter is that elves are very protective of their charges, so your parents being forced to take you away from them like that has been very hard on Efa and Emyr..."

Harry cut him off there. "I'm sorry Sir, but why do you keep calling me 'Duke'? I'm no Duke, I'm just…. Harry."

Gringott looked angry then, though he realised that he should have expected this from the state he was in when Healer Nightingale called them. "Were you never told who your parents were…. Harry?"

"Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon said that my father was a bum, though Uncle Vernon said once that he must have been high on the drugs he sold when he crashed the car and killed them, and Aunt Petunia said that my mother was her sister, but she'd left me with her without any money to pay for everything I cost them, even though she was paid quite enough for spending time with men, that was why I had to work to earn my keep…."

He broke off then because Gringott was obviously enraged at what he was hearing, but he controlled himself and turned to Emyr, clasping his shoulder in a warrior's accolade with a rather frightening expression of satisfaction and respect. Gringott turned back and explained. "Your Aunt, Uncle and cousin are all dead Harry. Emyr and Efa were called to you when your Uncle was killing you and they…. well they exploded him, all that was left of him were the hands that Healers Nightingale and Johnson had to prise off of your throat, the rest of him was vaporised and sprayed around the room. Your Aunt and cousin were also caught in the blast and spread across the walls. Emyr and Efa said that they didn't kill them intentionally, but I wouldn't have blamed them if they had because the joy they were showing at what your Uncle was doing to you was truly disgusting. When you got here with your Hogwarts letter clutched in your hand, I sent some of my warriors to the house to see what happened, so we know that they're all dead. My people collected whatever was in that box under the stairs they made you live in, and anything else in the house that related to you or your parents and then destroyed the house. I particularly enjoyed seeing the images of that old bastard's face when he realised that he'd lost you and whatever he wanted to use you for…."

He stopped and looked Harry in the face. "With the exception of the fact that Petunia Dursley was somehow your mother's sister, everything they told you about your parents was a _**lie**_! The Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter was one of the original ruling families of Magical Britain…."

Harry cut him off. "But magic isn't real sir..."

Gringott shook his head. "No Harry, that was another lie. Magic is very real, and from knowing your parents and what we've seen in the past week, _you_ are a very powerful wizard, incredibly powerful!….. While we're at it, goblins don't use titles like sir Harry, and after being your family's account manager and working closely with your family for over a hundred years, I feel that you are family to me, so please call me Gringott." He gave a scary goblin smile "Or Uncle Gringott if you prefer."

"So magic is very real, and very much a part of _you_ Harry. You are descended from the lines of two of the original three Druid Lords, the Potters and the Peverells. Your forefathers' original titles were Earl, because they were granted hundreds of years before they first used the titles of Marquis or Duke in Britain. In the fourteenth century however, the original three Druid Lords had their titles transmuted to Duke to bring them in line with the titles of other nobles of equivalent power and stature, and thereafter your houses were known as _Most_ Noble, rather than Noble, because Duke is the highest possible rank in Magical Britain. The third original Druid Lord family was the Blacks, though most of their family has forgotten their heritage in the last four or five hundred years…. So _that_ is why I call you Duke Harry, it will not be official until you formally accept your titles, but you _are_ Duke Potter, and Duke Peverell too for that matter….."

* * *

He stopped and looked at Harry for about a minute. "Do you trust me Harry?"

"Yes S… Yes Uncle Gringott."

He flashed a goblin smile again. "Good, because I believe that it would be of great benefit to you to accept your titles, because when you do you will receive the family magic for each House, and the knowledge that comes with it. For some reason that old bastard has gone to a great deal of effort to try and ensure that you are kept broken, weak and ignorant, so you would be much safer if you were strong, powerful and knowledgeable when you have to face him. This will be very disorienting, and it will probably bring more changes to you, but I do not believe that they will be anything like the painful regrowing of your body that you've been going through for the past week…. What's wrong Harry?"

Harry shook his head, still looking confused. "I don't know Uncle Gringott, but I keep seeing a girl, Mione, and I remember dying with her while a red headed woman and a red headed boy and girl are standing over us, mocking us and laughing about what fools an Arthur and his sons had been…. but it doesn't make any sense…. But what do you mean about regrowing my body?"

"I don't need to tell you how many times you had broken arms and legs and other ailments from being beaten…." Harry shook his head grimly "Well I think you know you almost died this time. The human healers that Emyr and Efa took you to managed to save your life, but you had an abomination in you and your magic had been repeatedly bound so severely that your body couldn't heal itself when it was damaged that way, you had also been kept in a state of severe malnutrition so you were much smaller than you were supposed to be and could hardly see, so after we removed the abomination and the bindings on your intellect and magic, our healers fed you potions and whatever else your body needed to regrow itself for a week, that process has just finished. You will see quite a difference when you look at yourself in a mirror..."

Harry started looking around for a mirror but Gringott stopped him. "You will see yourself, I promise Harry, but accepting your titles and family magic will also change you, so if you're prepared to accept them?" Harry nodded, and so did Gringott "I think you're better off accepting them first, and _then_ see what you look like now, do you agree?" Harry nodded again and after Gringott concentrated, six rings appeared in his hand. "Your father went through the rituals to formally accept you as his heir for all of the Houses that you inherited through him at your birth, so you have been destined for this from birth."

Gringott picked up the first ring and handed it to Harry. "This is the ring of the Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, when it accepts you, it will shrink to fit your finger, put it onto your left ring finger…" he tapped the appropriate finger when Harry looked confused.

As soon as he slid the ring onto his finger, Harry was rocked back by the surge of energy that went through him and it was as if he were speed reading through an entire library….. When he shook his head and looked at Gringott, Gringott could see that he had assimilated the family magic and knowledge and gave a goblin smile. "Good, now this is the ring of the Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell, put this one onto your _right_ ring finger."

The impact was less this time, but his power and knowledge grew again, and he grew a little more as well, Gringott nodded. " _T_ _his_ is the ring of the Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Gryffindor, put this one onto your right ring finger as well."

The Gryffindor ring had almost as much effect as the Peverell ring, and Gringott's smile was feral as he handed the next ring to him. "As well as being the Head of two of the original Druid Lords' family's, you are _also_ the Heir to the third one, the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, put this one onto your left ring finger. I doubt you will get as much from this one as Sirius has not formally accepted his title as Duke Black as yet, but he formally accepted you as his heir when he was heir to the title and you have Black blood, so you should get something."

As Gringott said, he got less from the Black ring than he had the others, but his head still felt as though it was bursting from what was in it, but Gringott wasn't finished yet, handing him another ring "This is the ring of the Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Le Fay, it goes on your left ring finger too."

Before he had a chance to ask anything, Gringott handed him the last ring. "And this is the ring of the Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Emrys, it goes on your right ring finger."

Harry was shaking his head, as if trying to shake everything swirling about in there into whatever crevasse or hole that could hold it. Gringott nodded. "Yes Harry, you are descended from two of the three original Druid Lords, Godric Gryffindor, Merlin and Morgana, and you are _also_ the full heir to the house of the last original Druid Lord because with your parents' permission your Godfather, Sirius Black, went through the formal blood adoption process when you were a babe when he made you his official heir. I don't believe that the old bastard actually knows about any of that other than the House of Potter."

"I'm sorry Uncle Gringott, but who is this 'old bastard' that you keep referring to?"

"Oh I am sorry Harry, I've only referred to him as the old bastard for so long that I forget that others refer to him as anything else…. The old bastard is Albus Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Headmaster at Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot of Magical Britain, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, the self styled Leader of the Light and the man who orchestrated your parents' murders and you being hidden away with those bastards who Emyr and Efa just did the world a favour by eliminating. I must apologise, if I'd worked out that he'd sent you to _them_ I promise that I would have had you recovered before they had a chance to harm you this way, but I didn't realise that he even knew about them. I _should_ have realised when he had your parents' wills sealed and had himself made your magical guardian, because Lily, your mother, was adamant that you were never to go anywhere near them, but I thought that he was just trying stop the ones who were _supposed_ to be your guardians from finding out….. So, do you want to see what you look like now?"

Harry nodded eagerly and hopped off the bed, but he would have collapsed if Gringott hadn't caught him. "Careful Harry, you haven't used these legs yet."

When he was drawn up to his full height, Harry was confused, because he was looking Uncle Gringott in the eye, but Uncle Gringott should have been at least a foot taller than him. Gringott chuckled. "I told you that you've gone through a lot of changes."

By the time he'd walked Harry over to the full length mirror, Harry was able to stand on his own two feet, so Gringott let him go and stepped back, smiling as Harry looked at his reflection and shook his head, because he hardly recognised himself in the figure he saw. He was well over a foot taller than he'd been the last time he saw himself, and had filled out quite a bit as well so that he looked at least four or five years older. He also hadn't realised until he saw himself that he was seeing fine without glasses now, seeing much better than he had before _with_ glasses before in fact, and his eyes were a vivid emerald now. His hair fell down around his shoulders in silky waves and the black was shot through with dark copper highlights. When he went to look closer at that, Gringott said. " _Yes, th_ _ose_ _and your green eyes came from Lily, your mother._ "

Harry jumped when he realised that Gringott had spoken in Goblin and he understood him. Gringott grinned when he saw that Harry had caught it. "Yes, that was why I wanted you to accept your titles, because the knowledge that came with your family magic will rectify what the old bastard did to try and keep you ignorant of your family heritage and the world that you are being put into, and your family magic will help protect you from him and the others who are out to get you."

It was Harry's turn to give a feral grin, because being beaten, abused and treated like a slave for ten years when all of this was rightfully his brought out a desire for retribution. "I believe that I am ready to see my parents' wills now Uncle Gringott, I know that you have the originals even if the old bastard has tried to seal the ones that went to the Wizarding world."

Gringott nodded approvingly, drawing his dagger and continuing in Goblin. _"Harry,_ _in addition to the other measures…. as I said, I regard you as family, so with your permission_ _I would like to_ _also_ _adopt you into my family._ _T_ _his will allow me to give you the protection of the Goblin nation in the dangers that you will face."_

Harry looked him in the eye and nodded. _"It would be my honour to be considered a part of the Gringott_ _family_ _Uncle Gringott."_

Gringott nodded approvingly again, cutting his palm and handing Harry the dagger, Harry cut his palm and joined hands with Gringott, reciting the words that his great grandfather Henry Potter (whom he was named after) spoke when he went through this same ceremony with Gringott's father. He knew that Gringott had been testing him with this because the Potter family had remained under the Goblin Nation's protection since then, but he didn't mind, and could feel that he'd acquired some goblin magic through the blood adoption ritual as well. When the ritual was done, Gringott pointed to a room off to the side.

"There are clothes in there for you, get yourself cleaned up and dressed and then come to my office, your parents requested that the other named parties attend as well, so it will take a little while to get the people who are available together." With that, he clapped Harry on the shoulder and left.

Harry didn't rush, as Gringott had said that it would take time to get the others together and he was enjoying the luxury of being able to take a long, hot shower. Once he was dressed, Efa fussed over his hair, setting it into a neat soldier's queue, and Emyr talked him through the process of making his house rings disappear and appear, either all together or individually, and how to do the same for the house symbols on the robes he wore over the suit that was waiting for him.

When he came out to be escorted to Gringott's office, the two Thane warriors waiting to escort him nodded approvingly at the fact that he was only showing the symbol of the Gringott family on his robes, as they had put them in there and watched as he accepted his titles, so they knew that there were actually seven house symbols there. They gave him a goblin salute and a toothy grin, saying "Hail cousin, I am Ulfr." and "Hail cousin, I am Snorri."

Harry returned the salute. "Hail cousins, I am Harry."

* * *

Ulfr, Snorri, Efa and Emyr were the only ones who accompanied Harry into Gringott's office. There were nine women, eight men and a little girl waiting there, so apparently it hadn't taken that long to get everyone together after all. Harry looked a question at Gringott and he nodded, everyone who was coming was there, but Gringott asked Efa if she could look after Luna while they covered things that may not be suitable for her. Efa looked at Harry, and at his nod took Luna by the hand and led her out of the room.

One of the older women took in Lily's eyes and features and the Gringott family symbol on his robes and rounded angrily on Gringott. "What's going on here Gringott? Have you had Harry all this time without telling us?"

Gringott just shook his head at her. "No Minerva, we only discovered Harry a bit over a week ago, looking like _this_!"

He projected the image of the goblin healer's first sight of Harry at St Mungo's and they all gasped in horror, even the grizzled old human warrior with the scarred face, strange fake eye and peg leg.

Minerva cried out in anguish. "Who did this to him?"

That was answered with. "This _human_." as he displayed the image that Emyr saw when Harry's imminent death called them to him, a purple faced Vernon wringing the neck of a rag doll like Harry while Petunia and Dudley watched with eager smiles.

The haggard looking man in rough clothes growled and leapt to his feet and the grizzled old warrior swore and started stomping to the door but Gringott stopped them, barking. "Don't bother, they've been dealt with!" with a goblin grin as he showed the image from just after Emyr and Efa blasted them, Efa was holding Harry, with Vernon's hands still clamped around his throat but finishing at the wrists, aloft with her magic and the entire room was painted red with his blood, while Petunia and Dudley were smeared across one wall.

The anger radiating off Emyr made it obvious who'd done that, and the youngest woman rushed to hug him for rescuing Harry.

Gringott cut off the next question from the older woman. "It will all be explained in time Minerva, for now, I believe that young Harry deserves to know who everyone is and he wishes to have his parents' wills read."

She nodded with a look of apology to Harry, and took a seat at the table. Once Harry and the others were seated as well, Gringott began. "You all know Harry, so this is to introduce you to him. Harry, this young lady is Miss Angela Fawley, your Godmother and a Senior Auror, she was your father's partner and your mother's best friend. The gentleman who looks like he's been living on the streets is Mister Remus Lupin, there are other things which must be discussed later but for now, what is important is that Remus was one of your fathers' closest friends, and your mother's too. Then we have Edward and Andromeda Tonks, Andromeda is your Godfather, Sirius Black's first cousin and Edward is your parents' solicitor, they were also close friends of your parents Harry, their daughter Nymphadora has just finished at Hogwarts and started as a trainee Auror. Next we have Earl Cyrus Greengrass, Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Greengrass and his wife Countess Edessa Greengrass, Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Yowann, Edessa was a good friend of your mother's. Their daughter Daphne will be the next Countess Greengrass and Head of the House of Greengrass and their other daughter Astoria will be the next Head of the House of Yowann. This colourful gentleman is Baron Xenophilias Lovegood, Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Lovegood, Xeno's wife Pandora was the Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Cathbad and a very good friend of your mother's who worked with her in the Unspeakables Harry, but we tragically lost her earlier this year. The young lady who was here when you arrived is Xeno's daughter Luna, she will be the next Head of the House of Lovegood and she _is_ Head of the House of Cathbad. The next lady is Countess Minerva McGonagall, Head of the Noble and Ancient Houses of Ross and Urquhart and Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…. she was also your parents' House Mistress and favourite professor at Hogwarts….. and beside her are Professor Pomona Sprout, Professor Filius Flitwick and Professor Septima Vector, who were your parents' other favourite professors, and Pomona is also Head of the Ancient Druid Houses of Biróg and Bran. Next comes Madam Poppy Pomfrey, Head of the Ancient Druid House of Priddy and the Healer at Hogwarts, your father spent more time in her infirmary than he did in his own dorm room and both of your parents were very fond of her."

He looked at Harry to see if he was keeping up and Harry nodded with a smile.

"This gentleman is Baron Saul Croaker, Head of the Noble and Ancient House of Croaker and Head Unspeakable in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries, Saul was your mother and Pandora's mentor and friend in the Unspeakables. The gentleman with a temper is Baron Alastor Moody, Head of the Noble and Ancient House of Moody and retired Senior Auror, he was your father's mentor and friend when he was an Auror. Next comes Madam Amelia Bones, Regent for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Bones and Most Ancient Druid House of Owain and guardian for her niece, Susan Bones, who will be the next Countess Bones and Head of the Houses of Bones and Owain, Amelia was also close to your parents through the Aurors. The dusky gentleman beside Amelia is Mister Kingsley Shacklebolt, a Senior Auror who was a good friend to your parents. Next is the Dowager Countess Augusta Longbottom, Regent for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom and Most Ancient Druid House of Llywelyn and guardian for her grandson, Neville Longbottom, who will be the next Earl Longbottom and Head of the Houses of Longbottom and Llywelyn, Augusta's son Frank and daughter-in-law Alice were both Aurors until Alice left to have Neville and they were close to your parents, however they were attacked just after your family was and were cursed almost into oblivion, so they have been in Saint Mungo's since then..….. Now while I'm sure you all have questions, it would be appreciated if you could wait until after the reading of the wills, because I am sure that Harry would like to hear his parents' voices again."

He didn't wait for a response, just waved his hand to remove the cloth draped over the framed picture at the head of the table. It was a magical portrait of Harry's parents and Lily looked around the table anxiously until she saw him at the other end of the table, and when she did she put her hand to her mouth. James put his arm around her and smiled "I'm so glad he took after you Lils."

He was looking around the table too, and once he'd confirmed who was there, started speaking.

"Well, in view of what Gringott has told us about where Harry ended up, we'll get what we actually put into our wills in regard to our choices for the Guardians of Henry James Potter out of the way first. Our first choice was Frank and Alice Longbottom, because their Neville is only a day older than Harry and we all agreed that it would be good for the boys to grow up together if anything happened to either family, Frank and Alice nominated Lily and I as Neville's guardians for the same reason. Our second choice was Harry's Godparents, Angela Susan Fawley and Sirius Orion Black, Lily had doubts about Sirius being a good influence on Harry but we agreed that Angela would keep him in line. Our third choice was Edward and Andromeda Tonks because we trust you, and if you can control your Dora you can control any child." That got a bit of a laugh from those around the table who knew Nymphadora Tonks.

"Fourth was Cyrus and Edessa Greengrass, as they would raise our boy right, and it might have helped correct the gender imbalance in the Greengrass home too. Fifth was Pandora and Xeno Lovegood, I was so sorry to hear about Pandora Xeno, but I expect she's there helping Lily keep me in line now. Sixth was Augusta Longbottom, because if something had happened to both us and Frank and Alice, the boys could still be raised together. Seventh was Remus John Lupin, Lily and I don't care what the bloody Ministry says about your furry little problem Remus, we knew that our boy will be safe with you and you would be a good father to him. After Remus came Poppy Pomfey, Minerva McGonagall, Pomona Sprout and Septima Vector, because you're all career women and we knew how important that was to you. Lily says that she discussed this with you Professor Flitwick, so you know that you were _only_ left off because we all knew that others would try and use your status to take Harry off you…. and Amelia, Alastor and Kingsley, we felt that your jobs as Aurors were just too dangerous, that and the fact that Lily was afraid you might teach Harry Alastor…."

Alastor joined in that laughter at that, but the laughter died off when James went on seriously.

"Lily proved that she was smarter than me yet again when she held out against Dumbledore's pressure to nominate the Weasleys first as Harry's guardians and in fact refused to have them on the list at all…. I wasn't the only one who failed to see what a vile creature Molly Weasley is... was I?..."

He looked relieved when most of the table looked confused and indicated 'no', then he went on.

"Most importantly! as Lily stated quite emphatically and I agreed entirely, under _no_ circumstances was our son to ever go _anywhere_ near her sister Petunia Dursley or Vernon Dursley! Given the fact that Albus Bloody Dumbledore witnessed both our wills, and we were told he sealed the wills and then deliberately dumped our boy with the very people we were afraid of getting their hands on him, there _will_ be a reckoning for Albus Dumbledore when he gets to this side of the veil!"

Lily broke in then. "Ang, with Frank and Alice in Saint Mungo's, you're first on the list, but Sirius is still in Azkaban and Gringott has told us that you're a successful Senior Auror now…. I hate to force you to make a choice like this but I must, would you rather stay on as an Auror or become Harry's guardian at Hogwarts?"

Amelia broke in then. "If it makes the choice easier Angela, you won't have to give up your job, I will keep you on the rolls as a Senior Auror on detached duty. To be honest... I would be happier knowing that you're up there keeping an eye on the children, and especially Susan, because she's the only family I have left. And as soon as we clear Sirius, he can join you up there…." She looked at Alastor. "If you will agree Alastor, I'd like to reinstate you and have you up there on the same basis too?" He just nodded.

Angela threw Amelia a grateful look before turning back to smile at the portrait. "It looks like I'm going back to Hogwarts Lils."

James took it up again. "Thank you Ang, and that brings up something else, while we're the covering information in our wills that Albus Dumbledore is trying to bury, he was _quite_ insistent that we make Peter Pettigrew our secret keeper when he cast the fidelius charm on our cottage, rather than Sirius Black as I wanted. Sirius agreed that his reasoning was valid, but now I hear that he's been in Azkaban for the last ten years because of that! Amelia, you will find sworn testimonies from both Lily and myself in our wills that at no point was Sirius Black the secret keeper for our cottage in Godric's Hollow. It was _always_ Peter Pettigrew! For god sake Amelia, get Sirius out of that hell hole, please! Sirius and Angela also completed the full formal godparent rituals for Harry and Sirius completed a formal blood adoption ritual with him to formally make him his heir as well, so he would have lost his magic if he did anything to willfully harm Harry, he could not have done this! For that matter, Pettigrew is an illegal animagus, a rat, so that's probably how he disappeared after he staged that scene to frame Sirius."

That made Amelia grab the notepad and ballpoint pen in front of her and start scribbling notes.

When she had written down what she was thinking, Harry spoke up, because things had been coming to him as his father's portrait was talking. "That's exactly what he did! Pettigrew became Percy Weasley's pet rat Scabbers, which is missing a toe on one of its front paws by the way, and he's now being passed on to Ron Weasley because his mother bought Percy an owl for being made prefect. And for that matter, Sirius never got a trial or even an investigation! Barty Crouch, Dumbledore and Minister Bagnold just had him thrown straight into Azkaban, you need to be careful though because Fudge was mixed up in this as well, and his reports about what happened were _very_ fishy."

Amelia stared at him. "We'll go back to Sirius' trial later Harry, but are you telling me that Peter Pettigrew has been living as the Weasley boys' pet rat all this time? That we will find him at the Weasleys' house?"

He nodded grimly, but added. "I don't know about _all_ this time but yes, don't forget that the little bastard's slippery though, you'll have to be careful that you don't give him any chance to escape. Of course, if he's already been passed on to Ron, I can tell you exactly where to find him if you visit the Burrow at meal time, because he'll be at the table with the walking stomach."

Amelia smiled grimly as she made another note to check on whether Molly Weasley had bought an owl yet.

James looked proudly at his son before he continued. "As per the normal will business, there is fifty thousand galleons allocated to each of you and others, and Madam Longbottom, you _are_ to take the amounts for Frank and Alice as well, and _please_ talk to Gringott about getting the goblin healers to see what they can do for them. I don't believe that St Mungo's couldn't have done _anything_ for them in ten years if they'd really tried, so it looks to me like someone has been trying to make sure they don't recover. Obviously, Dumbledore and Pettigrew are _not_ to be paid a knut, in fact I want Gringotts to recover every knut that Dumbledore's stolen from Harry, and the Weasleys' payment is dependent on what Harry told Gringott about, though that bloody marriage contract that Molly Weasley signed is enough to cut them off in Lily and my opinion. You are the exception Remus, we know you can't get a decent job because of your furry little problem so you're getting three hundred thousand. I'm ashamed to say that Lily thought of that before me Remus, and don't even think of not taking it! The remainder of the Potter wealth and holdings is bequeathed to our son and heir, Duke Henry James Potter-Peverell. We miss you all, please look after our boy for us."

 **A/N: The Houses of Magical Britain are explained in the next Chapter, and that there are ways of gaining and losing the family magic and knowledge of the Houses through the various rituals.**

 **The _Tuath Dé_ are the high elves and the _Fomoiri_ are the high goblins, they are related and together they make up the _aes sídhe_ (people of the mounds)**


	2. Gettin' Ready For School

**In regard to the question of finishing other stories, yes, but most of them stalled because they ran out of steam so it's a struggle to pick them up again. Heritage can probably be wound up quickly so I'll probably try that one first. And I've got readers in another space who for some reason want me to finish the hung stories there too.**

 **Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

Questions about the Peverell part of that were cut off by Lily making her goodbyes, but the portrait stayed uncovered as Gringott asked Harry if he'd share the memory he was talking about in regard to the woman, girl and boy who were standing over him and…. Mione as they died. He talked him through the process of extracting the memory and putting it into the goblin version of a pensieve that was set up on the table, but most of the people around the table, and James and Lily in the portrait, started swearing as they recognised older versions of Molly Weasley and her two youngest children standing over an older version of Harry and a brown haired girl, mocking them as they died, and laughing about what fools Arthur Weasley and his sons had been. The watchers' stomachs turned as they chortled about how tragic it was that they had all been killed with the rest of Harry's friends in that _Death Eater_ attack because they'd stayed to help clean up after the happy couple left at the end of Ronald's wedding.

While as incensed as the rest of them about this though, Minerva looked thoughtful as she asked Gringott to play it again, slower if he could. Age hadn't dulled Augusta's wits any more than it had Minerva's, so when it was done and Minerva sat back she said. "You recognise that girl, don't you Minnie?"

Minerva nodded. "Yes Augie, I do. I went to see a Muggleborn witch late last year when she turned eleven. She was a clever little thing, she would have given Lily a run for her money, and quite possibly beaten her, her name was Hermione Jean Granger, does that ring any bells Harry?"

He stared at her as the full name triggered more memories. "Yes! Yes, that's her! That's my Mione!"

 _That_ made everyone look at each other, and Lily lean forward eagerly in the portrait.

"What do you remember Harry, will she be my daughter in law?"

They were shocked by the anger and loathing that crossed over his face at that. "No Mum, it's that fucking cow who was standing over us laughing who was your daughter in law, Ginny Potter! I had to marry her just before I left Hogwarts because she was pregnant. I didn't know what it was about her, most of the time she just drove me around the bend, but other times I couldn't get enough of her. Mione married the walking stomach just after we finished Hogwarts because she was pregnant too. It was the same thing with them, most of the time she was crying her eyes out about how much he infuriated and disgusted her, but other times she'd be all over him. Of course once we were married it was too late, because _then_ we found out that there's no such thing as divorce in Magical Britain when there's a baby. That scene you watched was soon after Mione had her baby, my dear mother in law had great fun telling us that now that Voldemort was gone and they had the Heirs they needed to seal their claim to both our houses, so they just killed us off at the same time…." He hesitated as talking about this had made him suddenly remember something else.

"Professor McGonagall, Mione isn't strictly speaking a Muggleborn. Dumbledore had us do inheritance tests in our last year at Hogwarts and we discovered that she was the Head of the Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and the Most Ancient Druid Houses of Bodhmall and Rhys. Dumbledore told us that we were too young to accept our titles, I know why now though because the family magic would have protected us against whatever they were doing to us, and I'm pretty sure he removed our memory of it afterwards, because it's only coming back to me now. We need to get her in to do the inheritance test… actually I should as well because we also discovered that I was the Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Potter and Peverell, the Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin and the Most Ancient Druid Houses of Le Fay, Emrys and Kyffin, and Heir to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black…. so with the Houses of the Greengrass, Lovegood, Bones and Longbottom families we have all twenty houses of the original Wizard's Council between us….. And by the way, those friends who they were laughing about being killed in that so called Death Eater attack?... Luna, Neville, Susan and Daphne were among them, my dear mother in law had insisted that I take my pregnant wife home to look after her as the wedding had worn her out so I wasn't there to help them."

Everyone was staring at each other, wondering what in the seven hells was going on. Augusta started to whisper something about the Fates when Lily's portrait suddenly started spewing language that certainly _wasn't_ ladylike, saying that that fucking Weasley bitch must have been poisoning her baby with love and lust potions! Minerva and Poppy looked at each other as they realised that she was right, but it took a while to shut up Lily long enough to tell her that.

Molly Prewett had had quite a reputation at Hogwarts because it seemed that every time you turned around she was being caught with some boy or another (or man, as she was caught with several of the teachers as well), from first year on. There had been more than a few comments made about love and lust potions in regard to her and she'd almost gotten expelled for using love potions on Arthur in seventh year, but Dumbledore had somehow gotten Arthur to say that it had been his idea so the matter was dropped. They looked at Amelia with sympathy when they were discussing this, because she had been Arthur's girlfriend before Molly Prewett got her hooks into him.

* * *

While they were contemplating that, Augusta got to say what she started to say before. "Harry's right, we must get Hermione tested and if it shows the same thing again, get her to accept her titles, but I think this is bigger than Harry and Hermione, because if we have all twenty of the Most Ancient Houses between us so and Harry has been sent back with that knowledge to make another attempt, the Fates are definitely taking a hand in this! I would not be at all surprised to find that Hermione has been sent back with her memories of what happened as well to try and make sure that we get it right this time."

With that, Minerva stood abruptly, looking at Gringott. "Do you have anyone who can escort us who won't stand out in the Muggle world Gringott?"

Gringott nodded. "One of my nephews can go with you Minerva, Snorri." Snorri gave him a goblin salute and then a split second later, a middle aged human in a suit was standing in his place.

Minerva nodded with a smile. "Yes, Snorri will do nicely thank you. I will attempt to get permission from her parents to escort Hermione to get her school supplies, using the excuse that I happened to be in London on other business and thought that making sure she got what she needed while there was a chance would be a good thing. If I can, I'll bring her here to get the inheritance test done, and see whether she recognises Harry. If she does, I think we have to presume that Augusta is right, and the Fates do indeed have a plan for these two."

Snorri escorted her outside, and then Minerva took his elbow and side-along apparated him to the Grangers' street. It took longer than she'd expected to talk Hermione's parents around because they seemed reluctant for her to get her magic supplies early, it was only then that Minerva remembered that they had seemed quite relieved when she reminded Hermione that she would not be allowed to practice magic when she was at home because she would get into trouble. That in turn reminded her of what they _did_ seem enthusiastic about though, so she changed her tack, making as to leave and saying that she'd just thought that getting her books and supplies early would have helped their daughter do better, and that was what was needed to get their agreement.

As soon as they agreed, Hermione raced off to her room to get dressed to go out, determined to get out of there before they could change their minds. Minerva took her hand and apparated them both to Diagon Alley while Snorri returned on his own. Hermione was frightened when the quiet man who'd been with the Professor suddenly turned into a goblin warrior, but Minerva squeezed her hand and told her that he'd come along to keep them safe.

With Snorri, all the guards deferred to them as they headed straight to the Head Goblin's office. Once inside, Minerva saw that Kingsley, Pomona, Filius, Septima and Poppy had left, but Efa and Luna Lovegood were back and Daphne and Astoria Greengrass, Susan Bones and Neville Longbottom had been added to the group, and the adults looked angrier than they had before. She saw what looked like a contract on the table in front of Gringott and remembered what James' portrait had said about a marriage contract…. yes, if _that_ was what she thought it was, she could understand why they would be angry.

They made an effort to be push those reactions down and be polite and welcoming as they were introduced to Hermione (without titles), but Hermione froze when Harry turned, putting out his hand and saying hello, whispering. "Harry?"

They were too busy hugging one another to hear Augusta say "Well that's it then, the Fates _do_ have some plan that we're meant to get right this time!" but everyone else did, and nodded.

They all went through the formality of doing the inheritance tests again, and when they confirmed what Harry had said for him and Hermione (and that the dormant Ancient Druid House of Ifan was reactivated in Neville), Harry put the Slytherin and Kyffin House rings on to give Hermione an example of what the effects were, then she put on her four House Rings. She got so excited about all this new knowledge she had that Harry just had to hug her again, because _this_ was his Mione.

Gringott explained to Luna, Daphne, Astoria, Susan and Neville how the Head of House and Heir rings would give them protection and knowledge through the family magic, and at Xeno, Cyrus, Edessa, Amelia and Augusta's urging Luna accepted the Lovegood Heiress' ring and Cathbad House Ring, Daphne accepted the Greengrass Heiress' ring, Astoria accepted the Yowann Heiress' ring, Susan accepted the Bones and Owain House rings and Neville accepted the Longbottom and Llewelyn Heir's rings and the Ifan House ring.

* * *

Gringott and Augusta then explained that what was in most of the books only applied to the Ancient and newer Houses, there was a different set of rules for the Most Ancient Houses, and the seven who were about to begin Hogwarts were riveted, because not even Neville had heard any of this from his Gran before.

They explained how the Charter for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been written and accepted by the Druids Council of thirteen guiding families (which in turn led to the Druids Council' _s_ expansion into the _Wizards_ Council, because Witches and Wizards were the accepted terms for Magical folk by that stage and the Druid Lords had been becoming much more prominent as they were instrumental in establishing Magical people's rights with the Non-Magical rulers, so the expanded and revised Wizards Council was made up of two groups, with the now seven Druid Lords forming the upper houses and the thirteen High Druids forming the lower houses to preserve the magic numbers) in the early Eleventh Century, but as the Council controlled the school and the four Founders of the school had been added to the Council when they became Druid Lords, a number of benefits and protections specifically relating to the members of the Council were written into the Charter, making it into the first set of legal rules for Magical Britain.

They'd described these benefits and protections as applying to the 'Most Ancient Houses' that had guided the Druids for over a thousand years, referring to the Druid Lords as Noble Houses and the High Druids as Druid Houses. They took the terms of succession for these Houses from the nobility of the time and severe penalties for any actions against significant members of the Most Ancient Houses were written into the rules (this was where the definitions for what applied to the Head, Heir, Consort, Concubine, Betrothed, Dowager, Regent, Steward, Champion etc of the Houses became part of the rules for Magical Britain).

The Hogwarts Charter, including the rules of the Most Ancient Houses and foundation laws of the Wizards Council, had been ratified as being immutable and incontrovertible, taking precedence over any and all later amendments, at the beginning of the Fourteenth Century when the official Charter for Magical Britain was written and accepted after the Magna Carta had been confirmed as law in Non-Magical Britain. They were confirmed again in the early Fifteenth Century when the Wizengamot was created, but while the rules for the _Most Ancient_ Houses were once again asserted to be immutable and incontrovertible, the distinction was made that the rules for _Ancient_ Houses (defined as those Noble or Druid Houses which were founded between the Norman Conquest and the creation of the Wizengamot) and later houses would be defined by the Wizengamot. They also added the definitions of _Minor_ Houses for the Gentry (those with hereditary titles such as Baronet, Laird or Banneret which did not qualify as _Noble_ _)_ , and _Famil_ _ies_ for Commoners at that time.

The Hogwarts Charter and rules for the Most Ancient Houses were ratified as being immutable and incontrovertible yet again when the Ministry of Magic was created at the start of the Eighteenth Century, so no-one could argue with the rights that were granted by the Hogwarts Charter.

Why they were going into all of this came out then. The Hogwarts Charter stated that the Head or Heir of any _Most Ancient_ House had the right to require private quarters and facilities for them, their retinue and staff, no-one could expel or impede any of the Most Ancient House retinue or staff in their duties, the Head or Heir of a Most Ancient House had the right to be accompanied by their champions and guards anywhere they went _and_ the Head or Heir of a Most Ancient House could leave Hogwarts whenever necessary to attend to their Houses' business. Other rules in the Hogwarts Charter applied to all students, but the rights of the Most Ancient Houses made these less problematical too, for example while any student had the right to employ a private tutor for any subject where they believed that the education offered by Hogwarts regular classes didn't meet their needs, if existing facilities weren't available to them, only the Heads and Heirs of the Most Ancient Houses had the right to require them to be created, or to leave Hogwarts when they needed to to seek instruction elsewhere.

* * *

Hermione reminded Minerva that they were supposedly getting her school supplies. Gringott sent his people out to pick up the books, cauldrons, potion supplies and the like and the goblin tailors were making up their robes, so what it came down to was that all they really needed to get was their official wands. They all went out under glamours, including Ulfr and Snorri, and waited until no-one else was in Ollivanders before they entered, immediately securing the shop and throwing up privacy, notice me not and aversion wards.

That was when they discovered something rather interesting about Mister Olivander, as he seemed to be able to identify humans at least through glamours that worked with others because he greeted Harry with a delighted. "Ah, Mister Potter, I was wondering when I was going to see you!" soon after he walked in the door.

It was only after nearly an hour and a few dozen wands tried that they finally found the wand that properly matched Harry. Ollivander had a slightly troubled expression on his face as he watched Harry's magic flare with the wand, and he muttered. "Curious, most curious!"

Harry was exalting in how the wand felt so right, but he heard the man's comment and remembered how this had gone last time. Glancing at Angela and Sirius, he decided not to go into that because he knew it would just upset them, Angela especially, and with any luck they'd get this resolved before it became an issue this time, so he just smiled at them.

The others didn't take anywhere near as long, but with six of them it was still well over an hour, and when they had all been matched to their wands, Angela asked. "How much to we owe you for the wands Mister Ollivander?"

Ollivander smiled. "Seven galleons each of course, like every other wand Miss Fawley."

Angela nodded and was getting the coins out when he said something that stopped her. "I'll just prepare the wands, oh Albus will be so excited to hear that young Harry was chosen by a wand with Fawkes' tail feather…."

She cut him off. " ** _NO!_** Dumbledore is not to know _anything_ about Harry's wand!"

Ollivander faltered, but he was adamant. "But the Headmaster must know! It is imperative that he knows!"

Angela shared a look with Amelia and Alastor, the man was suspiciously adamant on this point, and there had been a notable shift in his terminology as well, as if the words were no longer his own. Angela turned back to Ollivander and reached out to look for compulsion and memory charms.

"Mister Ollivander, why do you think you are _compelled_ to tell Headmaster Dumbledore about Harry's wand?"

He faltered, aware that something was wrong here, but not sure what. "What? What do you mean?"

Angela had seen what she was looking for when her prompt triggered the charm. "You should be interested to know that your _good friend_ Headmaster Dumbledore has cast Compulsion charms on you to inform him of what wand Harry was paired up with and memory charms to cover up what he did to you Mister Ollivander."

"What? No! Albus would never do anything like that to me! We have been friends for well over half a century!"

"Why don't we just go to Saint Mungo's and have the healers _there_ tell you what your _friend_ has done to you Mister Ollivander?"

Ollivander froze at that. He had sold Miss Fawley her first wand when she was eleven and, like young Harry's parents and others who showed great promise, he had followed her illustrious path through Hogwarts and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She was a young lady of considerable intelligence, integrity and skill, and he knew that she would not say this unless she was certain of what the healers at St Mungo's would find. He looked at Madam Bones and she nodded grimly.

"No! How could Albus do that to me? What would make him do such a thing?"

Angela reached out and drew Harry to her with a sympathetic look. "I'm afraid, Mister Ollivander, that we have discovered that Albus Dumbledore is quite capable of and willing to do _anything_ that he believes would further whatever plans he has for his future, no matter what the cost to others is, especially when it comes to our Harry here."

Ollivander was shocked and horrified by her words, but he can sense the truth in them. "Can, can you remove these charms from me? Please?"

Angela nodded sadly, because he was obviously devastated by this betrayal, but she looked at Amelia. "You're better at this than I am Amelia, can you do it?"

Amelia in turn looked at Ollivander "Is this what you wish Mister Ollivander?"

He said. "Yes…. yes please!"

She did as he asked and with his permission, looked further than the compulsions keyed to Harry, finding others which had been keyed to Neville, Susan and Daphne, along with a number of other children of people who opposed Dumbledore. Along with the compulsions to tell him about their wands, she discovered other commands to place tracking, blocking and confounding charms on the wands so that Dumbledore would be able to monitor where they were and hinder their performance as well. She of course removed these other compulsions as well, and then they went over the note (in Dumbledore's handwriting, of course) with the instructions for the other charms, getting angrier because they saw that some of them were actually designed to make their wands fail when they needed them.

Ollivander hadn't done anything to their wands as yet, because luckily he had been so excited about having Harry Potter in his shop that he hadn't done anything else. It was a rather despondent Garrick Ollivander who agreed to leave even the charms for tracking underage magic that had been made mandatory as of a few years ago off their wands and offered to put some of the extra charms planned for their wands onto the wands of staunch Pureblood's children to throw Dumbledore off track.

Angela thanked him for that, and also suggested a minor amendment to the underage magic charms for the ones he'd been compelled to sabotage and Muggleborn and Half-Blood children's wands which would turn them into one-shot spells. Like most Aurors, she'd all too often been sent to arrest children after their second offence of performing underage magic, but she realised that she had _never_ been sent to arrest any Pureblood children, so this was obviously just another tool used by the Pureblood bigots to try and force Muggleborns and Half-Bloods out of their world. And while they had Ollivander on their side, it was the perfect opportunity to try and strike back against that practice.

Before they left the shop, Amelia made further use of Garrick's changed loyalties by getting him to agree for them all to use their wands to locate the most compatible backup wands and buy them. While it was strictly speaking illegal to carry backup wands, the type of people they would be opposing often did and none of them trusted the motives of the ones who'd pushed those laws through any more, not even Garrick, and after all it _was_ the Director of the DMLE who requested it.

Once they'd paid for their wands and thanked Garrick, they headed back to Gringotts. The silver lining to this was that Garrick would have a few weeks to put those tracking charms onto Pureblood students' wands, and hopefully most of this year's crop of new Muggleborn and Half-blood students' wands would be getting that one-shot modification to the underage magic tracking charm that Angela had suggested to protect them a little. Another benefit was that Garrick had probably sold as many wands to them as he would to the rest of the students starting Hogwarts this year.

* * *

Hermione had to be getting home, but she was a little wistful that she hadn't had a chance to look for a familiar. Efa had seen the bond between Hermione and Harry though and felt that it should be strong enough for what she had in mind to work, so she suddenly grabbed the two of them and popped them to Potter Manor.

Just about every elf on the estate recognised that the master was home the second he appeared within the wards, and so did those raised to be Potter familiars, so they all homed in on the master. Efa had a satisfied smile on her face because it looked like her idea was working when the first of the Mngwas that arrived bonded with the Mistress straight away, giving her his name. Harry didn't last more than ten seconds before he buckled to the pleading look she gave him and laughed. "Of course Mione! I don't know what makes you such a special cat that Efa would bring us up here like this to see you though Crookshanks."

Efa rebuked him. "You are not listening to your ring Master Harry! Crookshanks is not a cat, Crookshanks is a Mungwah! If Mistress puts him down, you will see!"

That got a frown, partly because she didn't _want_ to put him down, and partly because she wasn't really happy with the idea of being called _Mistress_ , but she put him down and he trotted off a little way before looking back at the master and the mistress. He could see confusion and doubt colouring the mistress's and, to a lesser degree the master's aura and agreed with the elf, they had to see, so he changed into his full Mngwa form. The initial spike of fear in their auras as they were surprised by the sight of him was almost immediately replaced with awe and admiration and Hermione came forward to stroke his fur. "Oh you're such a clever boy Crookshanks, so beautiful too!"

It was a disconcerting sight, a ferocious looking donkey sized brindled panther purring and rubbing his head up against the girl who hardly came up to his shoulder, but she just wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. After a while, he nudged her with his head and stepped away when she released him, changing back into his cat form before leaping into her arms and getting hugged again.

While Harry was watching this with a smile, a beautiful snowy owl landed on his shoulder, he reached up to stroke Hedwig, because they'd bonded the moment she landed on his shoulder, and this time looked into the family memories to find out what she was, because he doubted that she was just an owl.

"Ooh…. you're impressive too, aren't you girl?"

When Hermione asked. "Well, what _is_ Hedwig Harry?" they both froze, as he hadn't said her name out loud.

'How did you?'

'I don't know, it's like we're linked!'

As an experiment, he pushed 'Hedwig's a Devil Bird' through the link but she spoke out loud then. "Devil Bird, what's a Devil Bird?"

Harry smiled up at Hedwig. "Would you like to show her girl?"

Hedwig nodded and took flight, changing in mid-air. She was glad to see the spike of fear that Crookshanks got from the Mistress when he surprised her with his change didn't come, _she_ just got the awe and admiration…. and rightly so, because she was magnificent! All of the Potter Devil Birds looked like Snowy Owls in their bird form, but in their Devil Bird form they looked like small Veela, and aside from not being able to throw fireballs they were almost as dangerous.

Once the Master and Mistress were suitably impressed, Hedwig changed back into her bird form and returned to Harry's shoulder for some much deserved attention, but Hermione was asking how she and Harry could talk to each other in their heads like they could with their familiars, and why they could talk to both familiars for that matter.

Efa just looked at her, confused, saying. "Because you are bonded to the Master of course Mistress! That's why I brought you here, they are all Potter familiars here, but they can bond to you because you are a Potter too. We can all see it."

Hermione's eyes went wide at that, and she said that they needed to go back and ask Professor McGonagall about this, they could all see that she was worried about this so Efa took their hands and popped them back to Gringott's office.

* * *

The adults were laughing when they returned, but the sight of the familiars stilled that laughter, because they all knew about Potter familiars. Luna gave a cry of delight and went to rush to pet Crookshanks but Amelia grabbed her to stop her. "Wait Luna! Potter familiars aren't what they seem, you need to be properly introduced to them first."

Luna just looked at her. "Of course they aren't Auntie Ami, that's why they're so lovely!"

Amelia didn't think she understood so she turned to Harry. "Harry, could you show her please?"

Harry turned the first part of this over to Hermione, using their link to ask her to get Crookshanks to show them what he was. Hermione linked with Crookshanks and then opened her arms to let him down. Sue and Astoria squealed when he changed and he shook his head at them, grateful that the Mistress was made of stronger stuff than them. When Luna, Daphne, Astoria, Susan and Neville were led over to stoke his fur, to convince themselves that he was real and so he would identify them as friends of his master, Luna hugged him much like Hermione had and he licked her face approvingly before changing back into his cat form. Then Hedwig hopped from Harry's shoulder to the back of one of the chairs at the table, changing into her Devil Bird form as she did so.

Susan squealed again and Hedwig shook her head at her too, agreeing that the Mistress was much better than this one. Harry and Hermione were amused by the comments coming back from their familiars, but Hermione was still concerned about the 'Mistress' thing, so as soon as they'd gone through the same process with her, he introduced Hedwig by name, and then Crookshanks, as Hermione's familiar.

That made all the adults turn and look at Hermione, because had been proven that these were Potter familiars and as such they would only bond with _Potters_. They had presumed that Crookshanks had accepted Hermione as a friend of his master's, which was what they'd been trying to do with the other children, but actually _bonding_ with a Potter familiar? That was something else entirely!

Hermione read their expressions and nodded. "Yes, that was what we wanted to ask you. Harry and I can talk to each other the way we can to the familiars, and when I asked how that could happen Efa said that it was because we were bonded of course, and they could all see that. What is she talking about?"

Minerva shares looks with the other adults, then turned to Emyr. "Emyr, we're not questioning what Efa says, but can you see this too?"

He just nodded, saying "Yes Miss" in a tone that said he couldn't understand how they _couldn't_ see it.

She turned back to Hermione. "I'm sorry Hermione, it looks as though the Fates may have decided to make sure that their plan works this time…." She stopped "Or did they?…. How did you feel about Harry before you came back? And how did that compare with how you felt about Ronald Weasley?"

Hermione hesitated. "I don't know…. It always felt that I was where I was meant to be when I was with Harry…. I felt safe, comfortable…. loved. I never felt anything like that with Ronald, but I was compelled to be with him, by the love and lust potions obviously."

Minerva nodded musingly and turned to Harry. "Harry?"

"Pretty much the same Professor, the only times things were really right in my world were when I was with Mione and she was happy."

She looked back at the others. "I don't know much about soul bonds, but it sounds as though they may have been bonded _before_ they came back. That may have been why the Fates chose to send them both back."

The others were nodding thoughtfully, and Amelia responded. "It does sound like that, and that makes it all the more important to protect them from that bastard's machinations… Sit down you lot, we were discussing a few things while you were away and we obviously need to do something about them now."

* * *

Once everyone was settled, with Hedwig perched on the back of the chair beside Harry, she went on. "Ted was working on the paperwork to formally register Angela and Sirius as Harry's guardians in both worlds, using James and Lily's wills, when Minerva remembered something worrying, you see the Headmaster is automatically made the magical guardian for all Muggleborn students. Obviously we can't expose Hermione to that, so we were looking for a trustworthy person with a close enough link to Hermione to make a good case for them to be made her magical guardian and we discovered something interesting... bloody astounding really, you see mister soft and cuddly here" hooking a thumb at Alastor "is actually your great uncle in the Hufflepuff family tree Hermione. So, if you're comfortable with it, we'd like to formally register Alastor as your magical guardian?"

They could see from Hermione's expression that this had overridden her confusion and apprehension about the bond issue, and she confirmed that when she smiled mischievously and asked. "I would like that, if it's okay with you…. _Uncle_ Alastor?"

He tried to hold his stern expression when others laughed at that, but he broke and smiled back at her. "I would like that too Hermione. Actually…. I'm the last of my line, so I'd like to make you my heir as well if you wouldn't mind?"

Her playfulness was gone as she answered. "It would be my honour Uncle Alastor!"

The other adults thought that hell must have frozen over then, because the fearsome Mad-Eye Moody went across the room to hug her for that. Ted immediately started on the paperwork for the magical guardianship (the actual process was simple in the magical world but the paperwork defined the terms), but Gringott and Augusta obviously had something on their minds. Gringott spoke first. "Alastor, Hermione, something else that you may want to consider is a blood adoption. Sirius did that with Harry when he made him his heir, partly because it renders any challenges to the inheritance moot, but it would also give Hermione access to any of the Moody family magic that is restricted to those of Moody blood and it may even give her something of whatever it is that makes _you_ so impressive Alastor…. I must warn you though Hermione, blood adoptions get more difficult for the recipient as they get older, so the ritual may be uncomfortable for you."

He didn't realise that he'd said the magic words for Hermione, if this could mean access to more knowledge of course she'd take it! She nodded eagerly to Alastor's questioning look and he said. "It appears that we have agreement Gringott, could you make the necessary arrangements for us please?" Gringott nodded with an approving smile in Hermione's direction and called for what was necessary.

As he was doing that, Augusta brought up her point. "I hate to say this, but I believe that we should also consider entering all the children into betrothal contracts with each other as well. Hermione, Susan, Daphne, Astoria and Luna in particular are at risk so long as there's a chance that someone can find a way to register a betrothal contract with them, and as the head and heirs of six of the most powerful houses, so are Harry and Neville. But what I can't see a way past is how to do that without effecting the Bones, Greengrass and Lovegood lines…."

Ted looked up for a moment. "I think I may know something that can help there Augusta, Gringott, could you get someone to dig up the wizarding rules for female line betrothals and marriages please?" Gringott nodded and sent Ulfr to get someone onto that.

By then, Snorri was back with the goblins and accoutrements they needed to do a blood adoption ritual and they got started. Gringott was correct, it _was_ quite an uncomfortable experience for her, but as their familiars had noted, Hermione was made of strong stuff. She had recovered enough to pay attention by the time Ulfr came back with documents on female line marriages.

When Ulfr brought the documents back, Ted went through them and once he'd confirmed that he'd recalled this properly, he explained it to the others. "You see we have two types of betrothal and marriage contracts in Magical Britain. There's the normal one which is intended to continue the male line of the Houses, but there's another one which was passed into law back in the days of the Goblin Wars to continue Houses via the female line where no male heirs survived. In these female line contracts, the children take the name of the mother and continue her House's line, but there is a caveat on these which allows for _both_ male and female line contracts to be entered into for the same couple and where that is used the issue will alternate between the Houses. The last instance I know of where that caveat was used was Arthur Weasley's betrothal to Molly Prewett so that the Prewett name would be continued."

He shook his head at the questioning looks. "Fabian and Gideon Prewett weren't going to be continuing the family line unless they were dosed with love and lust potions like Harry and Hermione were because they were gay, and while we know that their sister was quite capable of doing that, she probably wanted to control both family lines herself. Her Great-Aunt Muriel knows enough of the old ways to have set up the male and female line betrothal contracts for them and she didn't approve of the twins being gay.… That's why Charlie, Fred, George and Ginny Weasley are actually Charlus Prewett-Weasley, Fredericus Prewett-Weasley, Georgius Prewett-Weasley and Ginevra Molly Prewett-Weasley…. they generally just treat the Prewett as a middle name rather than their surname. Charlie is actually Baron Prewett, Head of the Noble House of Prewett but I don't believe that he's claimed his titles?" He looked a question at Gringott, who sent Ulfr off to find out.

* * *

While the history of the Prewett line didn't really interest him, Cyrus looked very relieved to hear about the caveat Ted mentioned, and he answered the unspoken questions at his reaction. "Edessa and I have had Lucius Malfoy trying to pressure us into accepting betrothal contracts between his son and both our girls. It's been getting increasingly difficult to hold out with what he's been bringing to bear on us but the idea of our girls being under their control is horrifying."

That was enough for Augusta and Amelia, and with Neville and Susan's consent they accepted male line betrothals for the Heirs to the Houses of Longbottom and Llewelyn and female line betrothals for the Heads of the House of Bones and Owain, because they were the simplest to complete. The situation with Harry and the other four girls wasn't as simple, and there was also the issue that Cyrus had just raised about how hard it had been to resist the pressure that a rich and powerful house like the Malfoys could bring to bear.

They quickly agreed on the best solution to their houses being pressured and Cyrus and Andromeda swore homage and made the formal oath of Fealty to make the Noble and Most Ancient House of Greengrass and the Noble House of Tonks vassals of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and Xeno swore homage and made the formal oath of Fealty to make the Most Ancient Druid House of Lovegood vassals of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter. This meant that they were protected by the two richest and most powerful houses in Magical Britain, so if anyone like the Malfoys came after them again, they'd get stepped on.

With that sorted, they started on the betrothals.

They covered Hermione's first, as the adults and other girls agreed that she was obviously the Head Wife, whatever that was, and Sirius and Alastor accepted male line betrothals for the Houses of Potter, Gryffindor, Slytherin and Kyffin and female line betrothals for the Houses of Boghmall, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Rhys.

Then came Daphne and Astoria, Sirius and Cyrus accepted male and female line betrothals between Harry, as Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Le Fay, and Daphne, as Heiress to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Greengrass. They also accepted male and female line betrothals between Harry, as Heir to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and Astoria, as Heiress to the Most Ancient Druid House of Yowann.

Finally there was Luna and Sirius and Xeno accepted male and female line betrothals between Harry, as Duke Peverell, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell and Luna, as Heiress to the Most Ancient Druid House of Lovegood and between Harry, as Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Emrys and Luna, as Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Cathbad.

This meant that between the seven of them, they had _twenty_ betrothal contracts, but they and all their houses were covered.

While they were covering all these details, Amelia brought up the fact that Harry and Hermione still had no-one with the authority to officially speak or vote for their Houses, so they went through the process to formally register their guardians as the regents for all of their Houses.

It had gotten rather late by then and Minerva really had to take Hermione home, but they'd achieved an incredible amount in one day. They had to laugh when Harry revealed all his rings, because he now had seven House rings, an Heir's Ring and Betrothal rings for eight other houses, and all of these were for Most Ancient Houses. Angela had seven Most Ancient Houses' Regents' rings and the Black Consort's ring on her fingers. Hermione had her four House Rings and four Betrothal rings for Most Ancient Houses, plus the Moody Heiress' ring. Alastor had his Moody House Ring, plus the Regent rings for four Most Ancient Houses. Daphne had her Greengrass Heiress' ring and Le Fay Betrothal ring. Astoria had her Yowann Heiress' ring and Black Betrothal ring. Luna had her Lovegood Heiress' Ring and Cathbad House ring and Peverall and Emrys Betrothal Rings. Susan had her Bones and Owain House Rings and the Longbottom and Llewelyn Betrothal rings, and Neville had his Longbottom and Llewelyn Heir's rings, Ifan House ring and the Bones and Owain Betrothal rings, while Amelia had the Bones and Owain Regent rings, Augusta had the Longbottom and Llewelyn Regent rings and the Longbottom Dowager ring and Sirius had his Black House Ring, so they had all twenty of the Most Ancient Houses locked down.

 **A/N: In the world they came from, Dumbledork had survived the war, so he was still playing games with Harry's and everyone else's lives. He manipulated key people's memories so that he got the credit for vanquishing Voldemort and he was behind Arthur and the others being killed in the faux Death Eater attack at Ron and Hermione's wedding. After that, Percy became Head of the House of Weasley and Ginny became Baroness Prewett. Harry and Hermione were miserable up until they were painfully killed with poison by Molly and her children.  
**


	3. Taking Care of Business

**Sorry, I'd forgotten about a splinter thread I'd wanted to work in so I had to go back and change the references in the first two chapters. Missy and Tommy are now Efa and Emyr and they're Reeves, the elf equivalents of the Thanes (goblin nobles). The Reeves are around five foot tall and slender with human like features but they no longer have a role out in the world because Salazar Slytherin went crazy just before he died and in his paranoia he decided that Reeves and others of higher elf blood that the common elves were loyal to were going to make them turn on the druids, so he created a curse which twisted that loyalty into unfailing obedience to and dependence on the druids (wizards), and somehow this was passed from one elf to another until all common elves (house elfs) had a need to bond to a druid. That's my story anyway.**

 **Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

Efa had to cast an enduring glamour over Hermione to cover up the quite noticeable changes the family magic from her rings had made in her before she could go home, because she was now two or three inches taller and rather more developed. Hermione was a little disappointed that Sue was still bigger than her and Daphne but she blushed and had to hug Harry when he said 'I'll take quality over quantity any day Mione. Sue may be bigger there but you look much better to me.' over their link. She knew that he wasn't just saying that, because she could feel his sincerity, and looking through his eyes, she could see how he saw her, how the changes wrought by her rings had pushed an awkward child straight through puberty to become a beautiful young woman….. she certainly wasn't going to complain about getting through all that shite in seconds this time….. so she just kissed him.

The goodbye kiss that Hermione and Harry shared was more than would generally be considered appropriate for two eleven year olds, but the watching adults had to remind themselves that these two had been nineteen and eighteen and married to terrible people before they came back, and in seven or so years they'd endured more than most had to in a lifetime. Harry reminded Hermione to call for Efa as soon as she was alone in her room so that Efa could get the location to pop in to.

Hermione's parents were taken aback when she came home with a cat as well as her magic supplies, but Minerva spun them a story about remembering how lonely she'd been when she was away from home for the first time, and how much comfort her cat had given her, so she'd bought Crookshanks for Hermione when she saw her looking at him in the window. Thinking about what a beautiful young woman Hermione was under the glamour she was wearing, Minerva added that being away from home for the first time and starting to learn magic had been made all the more difficult by the fact that the magic had been accelerating the changes of puberty in her, so her cat had been a lifeline to clung to. Hermione rushed up to hug her for that, whispering "Thank you Auntie Minnie!" in her ear.

She waved it away saying that it was nothing, it was just a cat, when Hermione's parents tried to insist that they had to pay for Crookshanks… and then rushed out, saying that she really had to get back as she'd been away longer than she'd planning on. That part at least was true, because she knew that she would have trouble putting off Dumbledore's questions about what she'd been doing all day.

As soon as Hermione had left with Minerva, the Harry and the adults went back to working on what they had to do, they had already achieved an incredible amount in one day, but from what Harry and Hermione had told them, they were racing the clock and had a hell of a lot to get through.

When Minerva left to get Hermione, Kingsley had been popped to Azkaban with a cadre of Gringotts' finest warriors and mind magic experts. Knowing that most of the men working at Azkaban were minions of Fudge, Dumbledore and their ilk meant that any compunctions Kingsley may have had about the possibility of the memory and compulsion charms that they were throwing about so liberally doing lasting damage were easily outweighed by the fact that the man they were there to save was innocent man, and he'd been suffering in that hell hole for a decade without a trial. It had hardly taken ten minutes to confirm everything Harry had told them about Sirius' situation, except for Peter Pettigrew and they intended to address that night.

With everything planned, they were in and out inside half an hour, leaving a golem in Sirius's place, documentation of his transfer in the files, compulsions on the guards to ignore his cell and memory charms on everyone to forget that they'd ever been there. They took Sirius straight back to Gringotts, and he was quite busy for the next five or six hours.

* * *

As soon as Sirius was brought back from Azkaban, he accepted his House ring, married Angela, accepted guardianship of Harry with Angela, went with them to Ollivanders to get the children's wands, accepted all Harry's betrothals as his guardian (and Duke Black for the Black Heir), allocated one of his baronies to Andromeda to elevate her and the House of Tonks to Noble status and accepted her and Cyrus' oaths of fealty. He also went with them when Amelia slipped them all into one of the empty Wizengamot court rooms to use the system to quietly register their titles and voting proxies. Only when the business was done did the goblin healers get to work on him. They knew that they'd probably only have a few days to get him back into shape for his and the rat's trials, but without an abomination in his head, bindings on his magic that were almost enough to kill him or the need to rebuild every part of his body he should be able to recover much faster than Harry had.

In the middle of this, Amelia and Kingsley visited the Burrow, at meal time as Harry had suggested. When they walked into the kitchen, the rat with one toe missing off a fore paw was on the table, grabbing what it could of the food that Ronald Weasley was spraying everywhere as he tried to stuff as much as he could into his mouth at once. Amelia and Kingsley looked at each other, then whipping out their wands they stunned the rat, quickly followed by all the Weasleys. Then they forced the rat into its human form to confirm that it was indeed Pettigrew and secured him with magic suppressing shackles. It was hard for Amelia especially to include Arthur and the twins in what they had to do next, but once they'd secured the rat, they went through _all_ the Weasleys present, using memory charms to make them forget their visit and compulsions to forget about the rat and _not_ contact Albus Dumbledore, then left with Pettigrew, reviving the Weasleys as the departed.

Sirius had company in the infirmary, because Remus had to spend days with the goblin healers too. When Harry accepted the Slytherin ring he had found a cure for lycanthropy in the Slytherin family magic (along with the fact that it was actually his ancestor who had cursed the elves with the Druid Bond, he was in tears as he tried to apologise to Efa and Emyr for that). Salazar Slytherin had discovered the cure, but kept it to himself in the rampant paranoia of his later years after his wife was killed by Muggles. They were concerned about Salazar's mental state when he created this, but it was actually Emyr who pointed out that the abomination had done exactly what he meant it, and he'd been further gone when he created that.

Remus had decided that he was prepared to take the risk if there was a chance of getting rid of this, so he went though the rites to be cured of his affliction and then they took him to St Mungo's to get formal confirmation that there was no trace of lycanthropy in him, then they regrettably used memory charms to make the people at St Mungo's forget that they'd been there and Remus went into the same recovery process as Sirius. It took a longer for him than Sirius because the monthly werewolf changes had done serious damage to most of his joints etc. They surreptitiously but formally removed him from the Werewolf Register in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, leaving a copy of the documentation from St Mungo's and a finding that he'd been added in error buried in his files.

When Harry formally made Remus Champion of the House of Potter, the Knight's Banneret that went with the role meant that the Lupin Family was elevated to a Minor House, and Amelia added Remus to the DMLE's rolls as an Auror on detached duty like Angela and Alastor, reinstating Sirius at the same time so that they would have two Senior Aurors, two Aurors and a Trainee Auror with them up at Hogwarts. (Amelia and Andi had come to an agreement that Dora would continue her training with Alastor, Angela, Sirius and Remus while she was part of the protection detail for the students, so she'd be getting far better training than other trainees.)

* * *

Everything was moving fast, and Amelia got her chance to get Sirius tried only two days after James and Lily's will reading, as Dumbledore had given some excuse about being too busy at Hogwarts to come to London for the Wizengamot session so Griselda Marchbanks, as the senior Wizengamot member present, became the acting Chief Witch. Many of the hard line 'light' and 'dark' seats were vacant for that session too so it was exactly the circumstances they were looking for. She used the updated Marauders communications mirrors to call the others and made sure that Minerva, Pomona, Poppy, Alastor, Angela, Harry, Hermione, Augusta, Cyrus, Edessa, Xeno, Luna, Sue, Andromeda and Nymphadora were all there before she petitioned the court to add a late item to try a fugitive Death Eater who had just been apprehended.

Griselda was still sharp as a tack and she knew that Amelia was up to something, but she also had complete faith in her integrity so she allowed the item to be added as the next item on the agenda. She was questioning that decision a few minutes later when a filthy Peter Pettigrew was dragged into the court in chains, with the sleeve ripped off his robes to clearly show his Dark Mark, and a well dressed young woman and child suddenly left the gallery and crossed the court to take the Potter box.

Dumbledore's supporters immediately demanded that they be arrested and thrown in a cell to await the Chief Warlock's ruling on what the appropriate punishment was for attempting to usurp his seat as the rightful holder of that box, but Amelia barked that anyone who attempted to lay a finger on Duke Potter and his Regent would be stunned into next week and _then_ duly punished for interfering with the Head and Regent of a Most Noble and Most Ancient House. They got confirmation that Dumbledore didn't choose his supporters for their intelligence then because they retorted that that boy _couldn't_ be Harry Potter because Potter was dead!

Amelia met Madam Marchbanks' eye at that and she knew that she had this part won at least, because the Chief Witch came back with. "Just where did you get this news? That certainly hasn't been made public because _I've_ never heard anything other than questions where Mister Potter had disappeared to." The one who'd been the most vocal suddenly realised that he'd said far too much and muttered an apology. "I am sorry My Lady Chief Witch, I was simply repeating something that I had been told….."

He tried to scurry out straight after that and Amelia signalled the trusted Aurors she had called in to seal the court to prevent him leaving. Madam Marchbanks asked her to explain. "My apologies My Lady Chief Witch, but I must admit to being both suspicious and concerned when someone hotly argues that this _can't_ be Duke Potter because he is dead, then recants that statement with such a vague platitude and immediately attempts to rush out. From my experience as an Auror, that type of behaviour makes me suspect a plot to make the original statement true My Lady Chief Witch. Therefore, unless you give me a _direct_ order to unseal the court, my intention is to prevent anyone from entering or leaving this court room until the matters at hand have been resolved."

Madam Marchbanks considered that statement and finally nodded. "This is highly irregular Madam Bones, but I find myself in agreement with your position. _**None will enter or leave this court room until this matter has been concluded.**_ " She banged the gavel to punctuate her statement, then turned to the Potter Box. "Duke Potter, to forestall further interruptions, can you offer the court any proof of your identity?"

Harry stood. "I cannot offer any more proof than any of the other Lords present My Lady Chief Witch, I can and will submit my House ring to the court's validation system of course…. and I believe that this oath is generally accepted..." He took out his wand and placed it to his throat so that his voice carried throughout the court room. " _ **I swear on**_ _ **my life and magic that I am Duke Henry James Potter,**_ _ **son of James Charlus Potter and**_ _ **Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter!**_ " Then he raised the wand and cast a Lumos that almost blinded everyone in the court room before he murmured the 'Nox' to cancel it. "Will that and having the Potter ring confirmed by the court be sufficient to satisfy you My Lady Chief Witch?"

She was amused by the way he'd so effectively quashed any arguments and nodded. "It will indeed Duke Potter, I thank you. May I ask where you _have_ been for the last ten years though?"

The pain that crossed his face at that made her wish that she hadn't, as he just said "In hell, My Lady Chief Witch." quietly before he walked down to present the Potter House ring to be publicly validated as _**Duke Henry James Potter, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter**_. The system would privately register the name and titles held if the rings were presented in their hidden state (as they had all done when Amelia snuck them in two nights ago to have their titles accepted by the Wizengamot system, force any and all holdings and derivative titles rightly belonging to their titles that had been usurped to be returned and register all their voting proxies), but it would publicly announce the name and titles if the rings were presented openly. This was accepted as incontrovertible proof of titles because the House Magic would not accept anyone who wasn't the rightful holder of the title. The oath he had given was purely theatrics, but as the Chief Witch had noted, quite effective.

* * *

With that, Madam Marchbanks asked if there were any other questions in regard to Duke Potter, making it clear that there damned well better not be, then instructed Amelia to proceed with the case, overruling all objections to forcing Pettigrew to take Veritaserum.

With the proper questions prepared, Amelia forced Pettigrew to go into detail about being the Potters' secret keeper at Albus Dumbledore's suggestion and a death eater, betraying the Potters to Voldemort and leading him to their cottage that day, distracting the Potters' familiars so that Voldemort could kill them with the killing curse just before they burst into the cottage, and framing Sirius Black for killing those Muggles and himself when _he_ was the only one who had killed anyone there.

Once Madam Marchbanks had sentenced Pettigrew to be put through the veil, Amelia raised another issue. "My Lady Chief Witch, when we apprehended Peter Pettigrew, I went to retrieve the trial records for Sirius Black, to determine how he had been sentenced for the murder of a man who was still alive, and I discovered something very disturbing, that there _was_ no trial, no investigation, nothing! What's more, one of the people who signed the order for Duke Black to be sent straight to Azkaban for the murder of the Potters, Pettigrew and others without a trial, citing the fact that he was the Potters' secret keeper and therefore _had_ to be the one who betrayed them to Voldemort had in fact witnessed the wills of both James and Lily Potter…. and _both_ of these wills included clear and emphatic sworn statements that Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper, _not_ Sirius Back! Therefore I believe that it is imperative that Duke Black receives the trial that he was denied ten years ago My Lady Chief Witch."

"I agree that Mister Black deserves a trial Madam Bones, however we cannot hold the sitting members here for the several hours that it would take to retrieve….. Wait… why are you referring to Mister Black as _Duke_ Black Madam Bones? It is commonly accepted that he had in fact been disowned by the previous Duke Black while he was in Azkaban is it not?"

"It appears that Sirius Black being disowned by the previous Duke Black was a story much like Duke Potter's so-called death My Lady Chief Witch, because he has apparently managed to call the Black House ring to him and has in fact been accepted by the Black House magic as Duke Sirius Orion Black, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black…. and as for holding the sitting members here while he is retrieved, that will not be necessary My Lady Chief Witch, as when I uncovered the discrepancies in Duke Black's trial records, I took the liberty of having him retrieved from Azkaban so that he could stand trial, he is being held right here in the Ministry and is available to stand trial immediately."

The look she got at that said that they'd be having words about this later, but she was ordered to bring him in.

There was a marked difference between Sirius and Pettigrew's entrances, because Sirius casually strolled in, unshackled and better presented than most of those in the court room, though the sleeveless robes he was wearing were an interesting fashion statement. He bowed to the Chief Witch, offering the full formal courtesies, but when he went to sit in the accused's chair, she asked him if he would first present the Black House ring to be publicly validated, only after he had been confirmed as _**Duke Sirius Orion Black, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black**_ and had made much the same oath as Harry had (his Lumos may not have been quite as bright but it was still convincing) did she ask him to take a seat, but she had to choke down a smile at the fact that the chains refused to restrain him, apparently the court itself had no doubt of his innocence.

Sirius demanded to be questioned under Veritaserum, so once he'd been tested to confirm that he didn't have any of the anti-agents in his system it was administered. Amelia had all the questions ready to allow him to answer every point he was accused of in depth. When he said that as well as going through the full formal godfather ritual for Henry James Potter, with Harry's parents' agreement and support he'd completed the formal blood adoption ritual with Harry after he formally accepted him as his heir, everyone turned to look at Harry. He didn't say a word, just unmasked the Black Heir's ring and went down to have it validated that he was in fact _**Duke Henry James Potter, Heir to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black**_ by the court's system and returned to his seat.

It didn't take long for Sirius to be officially cleared of all charges with a formal apology, and the ones who could see the writing on the wall pushed through a vote for a hundred thousand galleon per year compensation payment. Sirius was quite aware that they were trying to buy him off coming after them for what they'd been trying to grab of the Black holdings and property while no-one had been watching. He wasn't about to hold off going after any of them, but he took the attempted bribe anyway because it was officially granted as compensation for his decade of unjust and illegal incarceration in Azkaban.

* * *

While he had the floor he formally reinstated his cousin Baroness Andromeda Tonks nee Black, along with accepting her spouse Edward Tonks and daughter Nymphadora Tonks into the family as _favoured_ members of the House of Black (putting everyone on notice that they were protected by the full might of the House of Black), and then formally made Baroness Tonks Steward of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black with all its voting proxies. Andromeda formally accepted the Stewardship of the House of Black in front of the Court.

Then under the Ancient House Laws of Magical Britain, Sirius formally called for the annulment of Bellatrix Black's marriage to Rodolphus Lestrange and the reclamation of all dowries given, any and all holdings and property of the House of Black that was in the House of Lestrange's possession and any monies that they had earned from these holdings and property and cast his cousin Bellatrix out of the House of Black for bringing the family name into disrepute by serving the common Half-Blood usurper Tom Riddle who falsely styled himself as Lord Voldemort.

He then looked Lucius Malfoy in the eye as he also called for the annulment of Narcissa Black's marriage to Lucius Malfoy and the reclamation of all dowries given, any and all holdings and property of the House of Black that was in the House of Malfoy's possession and any monies that they had earned from these holdings and property and cast his cousin Narcissa and her son Draco out of the House of Black for bringing the family name into disrepute by serving the common Half-Blood usurper Tom Riddle who falsely styled himself as Lord Voldemort.

They went through the full formal process for every step to ensure that there could be no challenges of any part of it, but the Magic of the court had accepted the decrees under the Most Ancient House Laws.

Andromeda, Edward, Nymphadora, Bellatrix, Narcissa and Draco all knew the moment this occurred, because Andromeda regained the family magic and knowledge of an ordinary member of the House of Black that she'd lost when she was cast out of the House of Black for marrying a Muggleborn Wizard, and then gained the extra family magic and knowledge that came with accepting the role of Steward of the House of Black. Nymphadora received the Black family magic and knowledge for the first time, because her mother had been cast out before she was born, but they'd made sure that she was in the court when this happened to ensure that nothing happened to her when she was hit with this (Dora was a little accident prone). Without Black blood, Ted received less Black family magic than his daughter, but it was still enough to note when he received it.

Bellatrix, Narcissa and Draco however had _lost_ both the family magic and knowledge of members of the House of Black, and the family magic and knowledge of the Consorts and Heir of the Houses of Lestrange and Malfoy as well with the annulment of Bellatrix and Narcissa's marriages. This was actually enough to stop Bellatrix's demented ravings in her cell in Azkaban for a while as the Black and Lestrange magics had been sustaining her, and she now felt emptied but didn't know why. Narcissa wasn't so demented and she had a good idea of what had happened, but not _how_ it had happened, while Draco was just confused, but that wasn't an uncommon occurrence for him.

Outing Voldemort as a common half-blood pretender and giving his real name was a risky gambit, but they'd reasoned that while it wouldn't change anything with the marked Death Eaters, it _sh_ _ould_ severely curtail the support he'd receive from Pureblood supremacists who hadn't yet taken the mark if they didn't manage to stop him the way they planned, so they'd regarded that as a worthwhile tradeoff for the risk of having to track down Voldemort again. They were also banking on the fact that most people would be afraid to talk about the idea that Lord Voldemort was a fraud in case they said something to the wrong person and his Death Eaters came after them, because they all knew that there was no such thing as an _ex_ -Death Eater.

When Thaddeus Nott, Lucius Malfoy and other Death Eaters in the court publicly challenged Sirius over for his claims about Voldemot, calling him a charlatan and a liar, he smiled grimly, formally requesting leave of the Chief Witch to give a small demonstration. When she agreed, trying to keep a smile off her face, Sirius requested his wand from Amelia and then repeated Riddle's demonstration to Harry as they'd practised, writing TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE in flaming foot high letters in the air high above the seated Dark Faction members (so that they had to crane their heads painfully to see it), then giving another wave of his wand to make the letters rearrange themselves into I AM LORD VOLDEMORT. Sirius looked Nott, Malfoy and the others in the eye and announced loud enough for all in the court room to hear that if he did not receive suitable apologies from each and every one of them here and now, they would _all_ be penalised for this.

* * *

Malfoy was furious, because of course he'd just scoffed at Black's implied threat like Nott and the others had, but before they could work out what had happened, they'd each been fined fifty thousand galleons! Then that idiot Nott and two of the others each got fined _another_ fifty thousand Galleons for shouting at the Chief Witch before they learned to shut up, and the fact that she'd added this to what Black had received just added insult to injury, because Black walked out of the court accepted as Duke Black, formally cleared of all charges and with a formal apology and _one and a half million_ galleons to compensate him for ten years in Azkaban, and he knew that he'd probably have to cover a notable portion of that.

He had lost face and a great deal of money here, and on top of that he knew that he'd _have_ to publicly reinstate his marriage to Narcissa to give her and his _son_ back the Malfoy name or the vultures in the Wizengamot would tear his reputation to shreds. The Black title was supposed to have come to his idiot son…. Black's mother had _assured_ them that she had gotten him disowned, so everything was in place for Draco to become Duke Black when he turned seventeen…. By combining the wealth and power of the Houses of Black and Malfoy they would have controlled Magical Britain but no, _Sirius Black_ had been accepted as Duke Black and _Harry Bloody Potter_ had been accepted as Heir to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, _as well as_ being Duke Potter! All he could hope for was that they could kill of Black and Potter and he could find a way to get one of the old fools in the Black family to reinstate Draco so that he would be made Duke Black as the only male successor in the House of Black.

What Lucius didn't realise as he was considering what he'd lost here was that as soon as Duke Black's decrees had been accepted by the magic of the court under the Most Ancient House Laws, a large team of goblins had descended on Malfoy Manor, collecting anything and everything that had come from the House of Black that wasn't formally accepted as belonging to the House of Malfoy, including a few Black elves who had come with Narcissa (in particular Dobby, because Harry wanted to get his old friend away from the Malfoys), numerous other stolen items of great value and a rather special diary which was emanating a foul presence, which Harry had given them directions to find. The goblins did the same at the Lestrange estate, as well as recovering the dowries, any and all monies earned from Black holdings and property and any Black family belongings and dark objects from their vaults at Gringotts, including Helga Hufflepuff's cup from the Lestrange vault (taking note of Harry's warnings about the traps in there). On top of that, they'd collected the fifty thousand galleons for the court penalty from the Malfoy vaults and hefty fines had been levied on both families for storing forbidden dark objects in their vaults, and even heftier ones on the Lestreange family for setting potentially lethal charms and curses in a Gringott's vaults. What it came down to was that by the time Lucius managed to get out of the court room, both the Malfoy and Lestrange families were considerably poorer, but more to the point, they'd achieved the object of the exercise, they'd recovered two of the horcruxes.

* * *

By the time Elphias Doge managed to get onto Dumbledore, in his opinion he had lost even more than Lucius Malfoy, because this was a disaster…. Sirius Black had been officially cleared, released and paid a million galleons compensation for his unlawful incarceration. He was also accepted as Duke Black, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and he'd humiliated Malfoy, somehow gotten him fined a lot of money and reduced his power enough to gather considerable support to himself in the Wizengamot, so if his part in sending Black to Azkaban without a trial came out he'd be ruined. What was even worse, Harry Potter was _alive_ and had been accepted as Duke Potter, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter _and_ Heir to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. How in the seven hells had Potter gotten away from the Dursleys' house without the tracking charms notifying him? All the evidence had pointed to him being obliterated by Death Eaters along with the Dursleys.

How had Potter taken the title of Duke at eleven for that matter? He'd convinced the Wizengamot to rule that no-one could be accepted as a Head of House until _after_ they'd reached their majority a long time ago to give him the entire time he had them at Hogwarts to make sure they would do what he told them to before they gained any power….. he'd have to ensure that Potter's title was revoked damned quick to keep power over the brat. The fact that he was apparently talking about the hell he'd gone through over the past ten years was another problem too, as that implied that he remembered more than he should, if it ever came out how he'd gotten there there'd be hell to pay.

The only saving grace in this was that Potter had to start at Hogwarts in a few weeks, and a few memory charms and compulsions should be all it took to get him back in line again. Once he was under their control, he'd let Severus have his fun breaking him and keeping him vulnerable until Tom took the opportunity through his host Quirrell to kill the boy, thus satisfying the terms of the prophecy and leaving the way open for _him_ to kill the weakened Voldemort and accept all the wealth, power and adoration that came from vanquishing _another_ Dark Lord. Yes... he really was worrying over nothing, everything would work out once Harry Potter was in his realm where he could control him properly.

* * *

Madam Marchbanks was shocked when she was escorted to the office of the Head Goblin at Gringotts four days after the Pettigrew and Black's trials for the explanation she had demanded from Madam Bones. These explanations proceeded at the same breakneck pace that everything in their world seemed to be proceeding at just now because they had so much to get done in the two weeks they had left until they went to Hogwarts.

While the time available to them was rather limited though, they had the resources of the richest and most powerful Houses of Magical Britain and the Goblin Nation at their disposal, and perhaps more important than this, they had some of the brightest and most powerful witches and wizards in Magical Britain in their 'family' as well as the family magics and family knowledge of just about all of the greats in the history of Magical Britain…. and that was just the wizarding world…. Goblin Thanes and Elf Reeves were the holders of much of the knowledge of their races, and for the most part _they_ were loyal to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter as the only original Druid Lord's House that had always held to the old ways and supported their people. With all of this working for them, they were managing to achieve things that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.

Griselda was furious, much like most of them had been, when she saw the proof that Dumbledore had in fact witnessed both the Potters' wills and then sealed them to allow him to do as he pleased, making both Sirius Black and their son's lives a living hell for the next ten years by unlawfully sending Black to Azkaban without a trial and unlawfully taking the voting rights of the powerful House of Potter and sending their son to a life of terrible abuse and servitude in the one place they were adamant he was _not_ to go. Her reactions when she saw the memory of Harry having the life choked out of him by that great oaf and watched the oaf and those other disgusting creatures being obliterated was similar to Alastor and Remus'. She cried when she saw the memory of what the goblin healer had seen when he was called to St Mungo's, and even more when she read the report that Healers Nightingale and Johnson had compiled on the boy's accumulated injuries and malnutrition.

They decided that she needed to know the truth if they were going to get her support, so they showed her the memories of Harry and Hermione's future, starting with what happened when they were murdered by Molly, Ginny and Ron Weasley. Then the very real danger to their world was driven home when they brought Tom Riddle's diary and Helga Hufflepuff's cup in and she felt the palpable evil radiating from them. They were taken off to be sealed away again as soon as she got the message, but they explained that these were pieces of Voldemort's soul, for want of a better term, that he'd separated through the use of foul rites involving murder in an attempt to make himself immortal.

She'd cried again when they told her that one of those abominations had actually been inside Harry, and showed her the memory of him going through the ritual to have it removed, and having those multiple layers of bindings that had almost stifled him to death peeled away as well. After reading the reports and watching that, she was shocked when they told her that Harry had still been able to do magic, as his will and magical core had kept growing enough to overcome the bindings so that Dumbledore had to keep coming back to slap extra layers of bindings over the top to stifle it again. Minerva and Amelia shook their heads in awe. "When those bindings were removed, Harry was incredibly powerful, because he'd had to keep getting stronger to overcome the bindings. He's more powerful than anyone we've seen except perhaps Dumbledore now, and I'm not even sure that he could match Harry."

Griselda had also been amazed when they told her about the growing number of houses that they controlled and had with them, and while she was upset to hear that the children had all been entered into betrothal contracts to protect them and their houses at their age, she had to agree that for the girls especially this was the only real option to prevent them being preyed upon. This was reinforced when she was told how Malfoy had already been trying to force betrothal contracts on the Greengrasses for their daughters.

Of course they'd taken a risk telling her all of this, but they _had_ to take chances to get everything they needed to done in the limited time they had. Luckily it had come off just as they'd planned and they had another powerful ally now, they'd gained the votes and voice of the Noble and Ancient House of Marchbanks and the support of the one who could quite possibly be next Chief Witch, and perhaps even more important considering that Harry, Hermione, Susan, Neville, Luna, Daphne, Astoria and Dora would be coming up against Dumbledore at Hogwarts in a few weeks, they had the Director of the Wizarding Examination Authority on their side.

Minerva and Augusta assured her that they wouldn't be asking for any favours, but would appreciate her help in ensuring that they were dealt with fairly. They also gave her a copy of the Hogwarts charter and rules for Most Ancient Houses and outlined the rights they would be claiming. Griselda laughed at that and made them promise to show her their memories of Dumbledore's reactions when they sprung that on him.

* * *

Griselda was no fool, and she understood that she would be in danger if she joined them in the fight against both the so called light and dark factions, so she was quite ready to hear what they had to offer when they asked her to accept a few things that would help keep her safe. The first was an updated version of the Marauders' communications mirrors which Sirius and Remus had been working on with the goblins. They didn't know what the range of these new mirrors was yet, but Alastor had taken one to Romania and Egypt when he went to test Charlie and Bill Weasley, and get Bill Weasley and his team there to test the wards, and they'd worked fine from there, so they should have quite enough range to handle any expected needs.

The next item was what really opened her eyes though, because Amelia unshrunk a wardrobe trunk which was tall enough to walk into. Inside, it was much bigger and more comfortable than her flat, so she just shook her head at Amelia when she said that they'd only been working on these for a week and they expected to go a lot further by the time they were done. As they were showing her around, they explained that these were the result of a combination of wizard, goblin and elf magic and the first elements had actually been knocked together in a couple of days. They had to laugh when her eyes lit up at the comfortable library and reading room and Minerva said. "We added these for Hermione, because that girl just _loves_ books! I must admit that I enjoy my library too, and that little garden through there that the elf magic made possible is just lovely, especially with the enchanted ceiling it has now."

When they managed to tear her away from the library and garden, they showed her a few of the other important features, like the floo. Amelia took up the description. "The goblins' version of floos are used in these trunks…..." She laughed as she said "Harry has named them _gloos_ ….. like the mirrors, you just say where you want to go, and so far they appear to be undetectable and un-blockable to wizards. Once again, we haven't had a chance to test their range fully, but they had no trouble working between here and Egypt. The wards are also mainly goblin work and they have stood up to anything thrown at them in the testing so far. Susan is here training with the others to get ready for Hogwarts most of the time so I stay in the flat in the trunk I have in my office and it's quite comfortable, I'm planning to lock down Bones Manor and live in the trunk flat in my office full time when she goes to Hogwarts…. What we're trying to say Griselda is that we'd like you to take one of these trunks and use it as your safe room and bedroom at home... as I said I always have one in my office and you will be set up with access so you can come and go via that."

Griselda shook her head. "Even in this 'unfinished' state Amelia, my flat is nothing so nice as this, so doing you said, setting it up in my office and living in it there, sounds like a better plan. My only worry would be how to keep people out of my office."

Amelia smiled. "Oh sorry, that's something I forgot to mention, you see they're still working on adding extra layers to the wards on the trunks. With what they have so far you can set the markers around whatever room the trunk is in to control access to the room as well as the trunk, but they're trying to expand it further so that you can control access to the house the room's in as well."

That got a laugh from Griselda. "You lot seem to have thought of everything Amelia. Yes, of course I would very much like one of these! Is it possible to allow separate access for my elf Babs, to let her come and go to my trunk as well?"

Amelia nodded. "Definitely! All our elves have access, and that's another thing, the wards have been set up to automatically block _all_ wizard, elf and goblin apparation, but whosoever's set up to have access via the doors and gloo can apparate in or out, so once you have the image in your mind you can apparate into the safety of the trunk if you're in trouble."

Griselda didn't need any more convincing, so they set her up with her own trunk and mirror and Amelia went with her to help set up Babs' access and the wards over her office. They brought a few elves and goblins to move whatever she wanted from her flat into the trunk.


	4. Hogwarts Express

**Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

 **NB: Mature _concepts_ are described in this chapter, not actions.**

While Harry would have liked to spend the time up until they went to Hogwarts learning about his family's history at Potter Manor, most of his time was actually spent under Gringotts, being pushed to learn enough of the goblin magic and physical skills that Gringott, Ulfr and Snorri believed he needed to know to look after himself and the girls, also learning elf magic from Efa and Emry and improving his Occlumency and Legilimency skills to protect himself against Dumbledore and Snape and get things out of them. Luna, Daphne and Astoria were staying there and training too and Efa popped Hermione in to join the training whenever she could, because she, Luna, Daphne and Astoria had been accepted by the Goblin Nation as the pre-mates of the blood adopted son of the Gringott family, as well as the mistresses by the Potter elves and familiars (they had all bonded with Mngwa familiars within a week or so), and Dora, Susan and Neville were condoned by the goblins and familiars as the guests of Grand Clan Chief Gringott and the master and mistresses' friends.

Harry went to Little Hangleton to help the curse breakers get past the parseltongue portions of the wards on the Gaunt cottage to retrieve the Peverell ring that Voldemort had made into a horcrux. There was a benefit... no two… three…. four! benefits accruing from this. The first was that the curse breakers were taking the horcruxes seriously now, the palpable evil of that thing and the almost unbeatable compulsion to put it on had been a major eye opener for them because they hadn't dealt with anything like that before. The second was that his contribution to getting through the wards like that had earned him an open offer to come along and learn from them. The third was that they'd replaced Riddle's father's bones in the graveyard there with a transfigured sheep skeleton in case the Death Eaters ever tried to revive their master again with the same ritual …. and the fourth and most important was that they recovered one of the more elusive horcruxes.

They also went to 12 Grimmauld Place, the Black Townhouse in London that had been Sirius' family's home since his parents were married, to recover the Slytherin locket that had been made into another horcrux, the one which Sirius' younger brother Regulus had replaced with a fake and hidden from Voldemort in a final act of redemption. Once they had retrieved the locket to destroy the horcrux, Sirius and Andi let go some of their anger at Sirius' mother's treatment of them by ceremonially burning her portrait, though Andi told Sirius that he'd cheapened the moment by pissing on the portrait as it burned. With that done, and army of elves and goblins came in to remove all the dark objects from the house (which left it rather empty) and then refurbish it as a light, airy and comfortable home. Angela directed their efforts in this, because the Black Townhouse would be her home once they were done at Hogwarts. Kreacher fought them at first, but Sirius making the effort to treat him civilly at Harry and Hermione's urging and the removal of all the dark objects that had been tainting the very atmosphere was changing him too.

The Potter and Black elves moved the magical paintings from the corridor in Hogwarts where the Room of Requirements was to similar corridors elsewhere in the castle for long enough for Harry to slip in and recover the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw without Dumbledore realising that they'd been there, or what the Room of Requirements really was. When Harry explained why they did this the adults were furious, because none of them had had any inkling that the paintings had been spying on everyone at Hogwarts and reporting back to the Headmaster, the consensus of opinion was that while the magical paintings had of course been there since the Thirteenth Century, this widespread use of them to spy for the Headmaster was something that quite likely only began after Albus Bloody Dumbledore became Headmaster. They'd also moved other magical paintings around the castle, so while some of the paintings were confused because they knew that _something_ had happened when they were moved back to where they came from, none of them could quite work out _what._ The important thing was that they now had _all_ the horcruxes except for the one that had been in Harry's head if Dumbledore had been correct when he pontificated that Nagini hadn't been made into a horcrux as yet, and logic said he probably was. While they didn't want to destroy them yet in case it tipped him off, this meant that once they'd captured Voldemort's current host and secured him so that he couldn't escape, they would destroy the horcruxes and _then_ the host, so Voldemort would be gone for good!

They'd also destroyed Voldemort's wand, which Pettigrew had kept with him. Harry discussed it with the adults and they'd all agreed that the debatable advantage of locking up Voldemort's wand with its brother wand wasn't enough to balance out the very real danger of Voldemort becoming more powerful with his proper wand, so they broke it and burned the remains…. _except_ for the core. Harry had had a talk with Mister Ollivander, and Mister Ollivander had explained that the wand as a whole was needed to have any connection to what it had been used for in the past, so one component, such as the core, should have no taint from the previous owner or usage. He'd _also_ agreed that from what he knew, having the two (or rather _three_ phoenix feathers, as the rules formulated for the multi-cored battle staffs of yore said that magical numbers were _mandatory_ and he'd actually received a _third_ tail feather from Fawkes that hadn't been put into a wand) in one wand should indeed make the wand more powerful, or at the very least able to handle more power (the reason Garrick could identify people through glamours was because he could see their magical cores, so he could _see_ how powerful Harry was), and that there should be no conflict as they'd all come from the same phoenix. They, Efa and Emyr and the goblins had all carefully examined the feather from Voldemort's wand and none of them could find any trace of Voldemort's 'feel', so Mister Ollivander took the feather from Harry's wand and made a new Rowan (as the Rowan wood came to him when Garrick asked him to choose the wood) wand with all three of Fawkes' tail feathers. From the testing Harry did, although it was slightly thicker with the three feathers braided together as its core and the original phoenix feather was the _only_ thing that was the same as his first wand, the new wand definitely _felt_ more powerful, and it matched him even better than the first wand had, so as far as Harry was concerned the exercise was well worth it.

Another urgent task had been begun on the first day, even before they retrieved Sirius from Azkaban, because they _had_ to track down Nicolas Flamel and use Harry and Hermione's memories of what would happen in regard to the Philosopher's Stone convince him of the very real and present danger to it before the Stone was taken to Hogwarts. Nicolas was devastated by Dumbledore's betrayal, even more so when he and his wife Perenelle allowed themselves to be tested and saw the proof of the memory and compulsion charms that Dumbledore had used to get Nicolas to accept him as his only apprentice, have the voting rights for both the British Noble and Ancient House of Flamel and the French Noblesse Ancienne House of Flamel signed over to him, to be made heir to both Flamel houses, to have them loan him numerous priceless heirlooms, artefacts and works and give him the Philosopher's Stone for safekeeping, removing their memories of most of these once it was done to prevent them asking about them. The Flamels gratefully accepted Gringott's offer to have the goblin healers remove what Dumbledore had done to them. While there was much that had to be dealt with in regard to this though, the most important item was obviously the Philosopher's Stone, because that would soon be taken from the Gringotts vault to be used as bait for Voldemort, so as soon as they convinced him that the danger was real, Nicolas hastily dug up one of the failed attempts to create the Philosopher's Stone and they replaced the real Philosopher's Stone with it, just days before Hagrid was sent to retrieve it from the vault. Perenelle was instrumental in achieving this, because she was the more practical one and she had cut though Nicolas' anguished recriminations to push him into action quite effectively (if rather brutally). "Nicolas! We can tear our hair about how 'Dear Albus' could have done this later, for now we must do whatever is necessary to fix our error before it is too late!"

The upshot of this was that Nicolas made _Harry_ heir to both the British Noble and Ancient House of Flamel and the French Noblesse Ancienne House of Flamel, sealing both with blood adoption rites, and transferred the voting rights for both houses back to their House Stewards. While this wasn't that surprising, Nicolas' next move (at Perenelle's suggestion) _was_ , as he then abdicated from his role as Head of the House of Flamel in Britain, making Harry Earl Flamel, Head of the British Noble and Ancient House of Flamel. Once it was confirmed that Baron Greystoke, Steward of the Noble and Ancient House of Flamel and Head of the Noble and Ancient House of Greystoke, was actually eager to retain the role of the Flamel Steward which had been held by his family since the Fourteenth Century, Harry formally accepted him as Steward of the Noble and Ancient House of Flamel, and he swore homage and made the formal oath of Fealty to reaffirm the Noble and Ancient House of Greystoke as vassals of the Noble and Ancient House of Flamel.

Another thing they did was to formally grant Xeno's publication the Quibbler _exclusive_ rights to publish or sell _anything_ referring to the name or image of Harry Potter, Henry James Potter or Duke Potter, and had Ted's rapidly expanding legal practice prepare to go after the people behind all the thriving businesses that had been making a considerable amount of money off Harry Potter's name for the past decade, forcing them to stop making or selling anything using his name and successfully claiming a significant proportion of the moneys earned from the use of his name, this added quite a bit to the Potter fortune.

 _And_ they had had to use the combined power of their Houses to overcome the suspicious amount of pressure being brought to bear in an attempt to stop Augusta removing Frank and Alice from St Mungo's, but Frank and Alice were now safe at Gringotts, with the goblin healers trying to help them recover. Both Frank and Alice were showing noticeable improvement within three weeks, so they were all hopeful that they would make a full, or at least significant, recovery. As their rapid improvement appeared to confirm the suspicion that they'd been deliberately kept in that state, Amelia started making plans to pick up the healers who's _care_ they had been under at St Mungo's to get the truth out of them. Frank and Alice also had two _human_ healers there, because some people at St Mungo's had read between the lines of the report Healers Nightingale and Johnson had made on Harry, so they were being treated with considerable suspicion and their careers were effectively over. Harry discovered this when he asked where he could find them so that he could thank them for saving him, so they were immediately offered places with the Gringotts healers, to look after Frank and Alice Longbottom and the other humans associated with Gringotts. They had no other real option at that point so they gratefully accepted the offer, leaving the same day.

Most of the adults had trouble believing what had been achieved in just three short weeks, until they were reminded that Harry and Hermione had all the information that they'd discovered over the _next_ seven and a half years to direct them to where everything was, they had the resources of the Goblin Nation of Britain and the richest and most powerful Houses of Magical Britain at their disposal _and_ the Fates had given them even more to help out, so they would have had to be incompetent _not_ to achieve great things in a short time.

* * *

The adults also decided that the girls especially needed to have 'the talk' before they left for Hogwarts, as the fact that Luna, Daph and Tori had _al_ _so_ bonded with Potter Mngwa familiars now meant that they were bonding with Harry too, Luna bonded with Bastet the day after Hermione bonded with Crookshanks, and Daph bonded with Pakhet and Tori with Sekhmet about a week or so later. Quite aside from that, Amelia wanted to make sure that Sue and Nev understood the ramifications of going too far, because Sue had been well into puberty and showing more than a little interest in boys _before_ her House rings had pushed her further along, and this hadn't been helped at all by the 'advice' her friend Hannah Abbot had been giving her…. Hearing about what Hannah had told Susie convinced Amelia that getting Susie away from _her_ was the best thing she could do, because that girl had the makings of another Molly Prewett!

Even though they were nineteen and eighteen in their minds and quite experienced, Hermione and Harry were still quite embarrassed about just how detailed the talk that Augusta, Amelia, Angela, Sirius, Edessa and Cyrus gave them was about _exactly_ how far they could go without crossing the line that counted as witches losing their virginity in the magical world, because the witches losing their virginity was a defining moment in all magical betrothals and marriages. A witch who was magically betrothed automatically became magically married when she lost her virginity, but witches who had already lost their virginity _couldn't_ be entered into magical betrothals or marriages, so they could not receive any of the magical benefits that came from being the Betrothed or Consort of the Head or Heir of the House, or even an ordinary member of the House unless they were accepted into the House by the Head of the House as Sirius had accepted Ted into the House of Black... _and_ went through the blood adoption ritual if they were to become a full member of the House….

Augusta stopped at that point to explain that there were also additional benefits to be accrued from the blood adoption ritual for those who _were_ in a magical betrothal or marriage, because they then gained access to the family magic and knowledge that was restricted to those of House blood. She noted the way that Hermione was nodding as she remembered the extra family magic she'd received when she completed the blood adoption ritual after Alastor had accepted her as a member of House Moody and then as his Heir.

She went on to explain that there had been far too many instances in the history of Magical Britain where young witches had been forced into magical betrothal contracts, then raped to force the marriage through consummation before their parents could find a way to break the contract to gain the wealth, power and magic of their House. This was still going on, which was why they'd been so adamant that they all accept betrothals with each other. For Hermione and Harry's benefit, Augusta also went into the need for and relationships within plural marriages in the magical world, which helped Hermione make sense of some of the knowledge she had from her House rings, and this and the growing links she was feeling with Luna, Daphne and Astoria helped her accept sharing Harry with them.

This talk actually helped clear up a few things for Harry though, because while Ginny had been very aggressive and adventurous sexually, she'd been adamant that they weren't going to do _that_ until after they were married up until his final year at Hogwarts. This had obviously been an attempt to entice him into marrying her to get _that_ , but once the heat of the moment had passed (or more to the point, the effects of the lust potion wore off) he'd always come to the same conclusion, that getting married just for _that_ wasn't worth it because they didn't have any other common ground, and he'd neither liked or trusted her after hearing about all the other boys she'd been with.

That had changed in his final year at Hogwarts…. as Molly and/or Dumbledore must have worked out that he would have jacked up if they tried to use that bogus marriage contract to get him to marry Ginny and could see that her methods weren't working, so Molly must have told her to stop wasting time trying to get him to marry her properly and just get pregnant to him (no doubt reminding her that it would have to be _his_ child in order to inherit the title and power of the House of Potter and prevent him annulling the marriage) so that they could force him to marry her before it was too late, because that marriage contract would still work to get his money as long as he hadn't accepted his title. It was clear now that Ginny had held out as long as she could because she was trying to get the Potter family magic and knowledge _as well as_ the Potter fortune and power, but she'd run out of time so she'd given in and used the pregnancy to make him marry her as Molly had with Arthur Weasley. Harry blushed as he tried to gloss over how much sex they'd been having in the months before she told him with very convincing fake tears that she was ruined because she carrying his baby, as she must have decided to make _sure_ that she got pregnant and he married her once she'd lost her only chance to get a significant amount of the Potter family magic.

They got sidetracked then, because Hermione brought up the question of how Molly Prewett could have been entered into those betrothal contracts with Mister Weasley, because they'd confirmed that she was at least two months pregnant with Bill when they were signed, but Augusta just smiled at her. "Not being a virgin only effects _magical_ contracts dear, otherwise it's just a legal agreement, and that was what they entered into."

Hermione blushed at missing something that obvious, but Harry just hugged her and kissed her on the head, amused that she'd actually made a silly mistake like the rest of them.

Amelia gave Harry a grateful smile after he told them about his experiences with Ginny, because she could see that his and Neville's obvious disgust at Ginny Weasley's behaviour had gotten through to Sue far better than the dry, if rather explicit, explanations they were giving. She hadn't been worried about Neville, as she knew that _he'd_ be a gentleman, her worry was the notions that Hannah Abbot had been putting in Susie's head, and that her hormones may have led her to act on those notions. She was confident that Neville wouldn't have rejected her if she had gotten herself in trouble through that, Neville had too much of his father's character and honour to do that, but he would never have been able to truly respect or trust her again if she betrayed him like that and _that_ would have ruined any chance of them having a long and happy life together, which she was currently seeing as being quite likely.

Harry comforted Hermione when she told them that Ronald obviously hadn't had any compunctions about ruining _her_ , because he'd done _that_ as soon as she'd been dosed with enough of the love and lust potions to give in to him, but his eyes flashed angrily as he remembered that she wouldn't have had to go through that if Molly Weasley and Dumbledore hadn't been using the two of them as pawns in their plans…. those two were going to pay! And Molly's disgusting offspring too.

They discussed the point Augusta had raised about blood adoptions enhancing their links to the family magic of the Houses they were betrothed to and they agreed that all the betrothed should do this before they went to Hogwarts, so that they'd be stronger when they got there. Angela and Ted also went through the blood adoption rituals to get a better link to the Black magic and Remus, Ulfr and Snorri did it to strengthen their links to Harry and the Potter magic, as his Champions. It took Harry the longest to recover from this, because he'd been involved in over twice as many blood rituals as anyone else from one side or the other, but he couldn't argue that Augusta had been right, as he had gained a lot from adding the blood magic for all the other Houses.

* * *

Dora came with them on the train, using her metamorphmagus talent to transform herself into a first year girl (muttering that they were just bloody lucky she didn't have to go through puberty again to look like this, because she would have made them pay for _that_ ). Dora would have a mixed role at Hogwarts, as while she was still an Auror in training (Amelia and Andi came to an agreement that Alastor, Angela, Sirius and Remus would take over Dora's Auror training as well as being guards and tutors for defence and other subjects), she would also be posing as a first year student, Dora Tonkas, while she helped protect the actual students, and be helping Harry learn how to master being a metamorphmagus, as she was the only other person in Magical Britain currently known to have that talent.

Having Dora there gave them extra protection on the train and with eight of them (Harry, Hermione, Nev, Sue, Luna, Daph, Tori and Dora) plus six familiars (with Harry and the girls thinking of Dora as a big sister, her going through the blood adoption ritual with Harry to strengthen her link to them was enough for Mekal to bond with her), they quite filled the compartment so that they had it to themselves. Of course, this didn't stop the walking stomach making same pathetic attempt as he had last time, barging in saying that the rest of the train was full, so could he stay here? Harry had shared the memory of their first meeting with everyone, so they all laughed at him when he came out with the same stupid line.

He rounded on the ones who burst out laughing to shout at them but belatedly realised that one of them was this Potter kid that Mum was adamant that he had to be best mates with. She'd been telling him what Potter looked like _over_ and _over_ and _over_ again for the last few weeks... it was like she didn't trust him to remember, like she thought he was thick or something! Sure, it was different from what she'd been telling him and Ginny ever since they were little kids, because now it was a tall boy with long hair and a faint scar on his forehead instead of a small kid with messy black hair, glasses and a big obvious scar on his forehead but it wasn't _that_ hard to remember….

Thinking of Ginny and looking at these bints reminded him that he wanted to find someone to do what she did for him at Hogwarts…. Hmmm, the one near the door looked good, but the way she, Potter and the tasty piece sitting with him were glaring at him was right scary…. the redhead had nice tits though, and that blonde was a bit of alright, the other ones didn't look too bad either…. But... what the hell was _Looney_ _Lovegood_ doing there?…. Mind you, _she_ looked a lot more interesting than she had last time he saw her too…..

He was jolted out of leering at the girls' attributes with what he was thinking writ plain on his face by the realisation that Longbottom was still chuckling…. well he might have to be _Potter_ 's mate but that didn't mean that Longbottom was off limits "Oi, what are you laughing at Longbottom? What are you even here for, it's not like _you_ could ever be a wizard, you fat stupid little squid!" though he belatedly noticed that _he_ looked taller and fitter than he remembered too….

He was surprised by how fast Potter came to his feet, and that he was bigger and fitter than him too, right scary he was with his eyes flashing like that! "Don't talk to my cousin like that you git! And stop leering at my other cousins and my friends! Look! Even _you_ should be able to see that there's _clearly_ no room for you in here Carrot Top, so piss off and find somewhere else! Over half the bloody train's empty, so you had to be really thick try _that_ stupid lie!"

Ron wasn't going to take that from anyone, even if his Mum _did_ keep telling him how important it was that he make friends with the git! He lunged at Potter, only to have his hands knocked aside and be dealt a stinging slap across the face that made his eyes water. He kept trying to get at Potter, but the hits kept getting harder and harder until Potter kicked him in the balls hard enough to send him flying right out the door to smash into the windows across the corridor. His last sight before he passed out from the pain of his broken arm and crushed balls was Potter putting his hand out, and the door slamming shut and the blinds coming down.

* * *

Hermione broke down as soon as Weasley was gone and Harry comforted her, singing 'Is it OK if I call you mine?' (from the movie Fame they'd watched together on TV one time when they were on the run from the Death Eaters) to her over their link, because they'd quickly agreed that that was _their_ song after the first time she'd caught him singing that to himself when he was thinking of her, but while Dora could see that there was something going on here that she didn't know about (she hadn't been there the times they were discussing Harry and Hermione's history with the Weasleys), she thought she _had_ to raise something.

"We _have_ to have Madam Bones look into what Molly Weasley is playing at Harry! The way that git was sizing us up _wasn't_ the behaviour of an innocent eleven year old boy, that little bastard was looking for someone to play with and he knew what he was looking for!"

Harry snapped "Tell us something we _don't_ know!" at her and then sighed. "I'm sorry Dora. I just got so bloody angry at the blatant way he was leering at you girls and….." he looked at Hermione to ask permission to tell Dora and when she gave it he looked back at Dora.

"You never saw that memory of the Weasleys standing over Hermione and I as we were dying, did you?" Dora shook her head, wondering where this was going. "Sorry, you were brought in with Nev and the girls and it wasn't really something for children to see, it was upsetting enough for the adults. What it comes down to is that Dumbledore was putting compulsions on Hermione and I and we were being dosed with love potions by Molly, Ron and Ginny Weasley from at least second year and lust potions as well from fourth year, if not before, because they had plans for the Potter fortune and weren't about to let Hermione get in the way of those plans. Ron had been using the lust potions to force Hermione to have sex with him for years, so Mione is all too aware of Ronald Bloody Weasley's unwholesome wants and demands! Ginny was using the lust potions to get me to have sex with her too but I didn't have to put up with anything as disgusting as what Mione did. By the way…. they have a common name in the Muggle world for their equivalent of love and lust potions, _date rape drugs_ , at least the Muggles understand that it _is_ rape there, sick bastards like them can get away with anything here!"

Dora looked stricken at that and tried to apologise to Hermione but she said that it wasn't her fault, and then Harry went on tiredly. "Auntie Ami _is_ looking into them Dora... Molly, Ron, Ginny and Percy anyway. We _know_ that Arthur, Bill and Charlie weren't involved…." He thought a laugh might help Mione so he decided to have a dig at Dora. "Tell the truth though, you _must_ be relieved to have it confirmed that the handsome Gryffindor you were crushing on for most of the time you were at Hogwarts _wasn't_ just another one of his filthy hag of a mother's little puppets, mustn't you?"

The other girls could see what he was doing and burst out laughing at that, but Dora missed it at first and got hot under the collar. "No! Charlie was never _anything_ like that little bastard! He turned down all the girls who came after…." She finally worked out what was going on and gave Harry an approving nod, covering it up with a laugh. "Alright yes, I admit it, I'm mad for my betrothed…. Are you happy now?"

(None of them had been surprised when Ulfr came back with the confirmation that Charlie Prewett-Weasley hadn't accepted his titles as Head of the Noble House of Prewett, but the fact that Arthur hadn't accepted _his_ when his uncle, the previous head of the Ancient Druid House of Weasley, died and Head of House passed on to him, and Bill hadn't accepted his as Heir to the House of Weasley either pointed to the fact that they'd _all_ been interfered with to make them forget, because for all his love of all things Muggle, Arthur had always been proud of his heritage and observed the old ways.

Amelia engineered a way to bring Arthur in and, once they'd confirmed that he was being interfered with through love and loyalty potions and compulsion, memory and Confundus charms, organised a quick 'trip away for a couple of days' for him while they had the goblin healers fix everything done to him, and the goblin mind magic experts helped him create protections for his mind with a mindscape that would make it appear to Dumbledore as though he was still under the same controls, they also made up potions to counteract what he was being dosed with.

Alastor was sent off to Romania and Egypt with the early versions of the communications mirrors and trunks so that they could bring Charlie and Bill in to have them tested and fix what had been done to them, and also to have them take formal inheritance tests to officially confirm what they knew, that they were in fact Arthur's sons. They were shown Harry and Hermione's memories of the future, and once they'd formally accepted their titles, Arthur and Charlie swore homage and made the formal oath of Fealty to make the Ancient Druid House of Weasley and the Noble House of Prewett vassals of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter (to protect Arthur and Charlie and make a stronger case against Molly, Percy, Ron and Ginny as they were acting against the oaths of the Heads and Overlord of their houses _as well as_ the laws of Magical Britain).

The thing was, when he got his memories back, Charlie remembered about a certain captivating but rather accident prone Hufflepuff girl who he'd warmed to when he kept catching her as a prefect, because she wasn't playing around with boys like the other girls he caught, she was always been getting up to trouble like those rascals the twins (the only ones of his younger siblings he liked). They'd started going out and were getting serious, but the last thing he remembered about her was in seventh year, he'd been talking to his mother about marrying her and his mother went off, saying that no son of her's was ever going to marry a common _Half-Blood_ without any prospects who'd been raised in the Muggle world to boot so she didn't know how to be a proper witch.

They got Dora tested then and confirmed that her memories of Charlie had been blocked too, and compulsions to stay away from him and go after other boys had been put on her (luckily everyone else she met at Hogwarts and the Aurors' Academy had turned her stomach so she _didn't_ lose her virginity to some random wizard in a broom closet somewhere as she had been set up to do). When they both had their memories of each other back, they found that they both still felt the same way about each other, so Charlie asked for Ted and Andi's permission to marry their daughter, and when they gave it happily, they accepted male and female line magical betrothals between Charlie, as Baron Prewett, Head of the Noble House of Prewett, and Dora, as Heiress to the Noble House of Tonks.

Dora had also been accepted into the House of Weasley by Arthur and went through the blood adoption ritual for the Houses of Prewett and Weasley.)

The others thought that Luna was still playing along when she hugged her. "Of course! I think you make a lovely couple…. I would have preferred yellow for my bride's maid's dress though."

While they all laughed at that, most of them were thinking that what she said was part of the act, but Harry and Hermione had seen that look in Luna's eye before and knew that she had a form of the sight, so they knew that that _wasn't_ some off the wall comment, she was actually telling Dora about something she'd _seen_ from her wedding.

Hermione gave Harry a kiss and told him that she was OK, then went back to cuddling Crookshanks.

* * *

The banging and rattling on the door just kept going though, so once they were all settled again, they opened it. Percy Weasley charged in, determined that someone was going to pay for what had been done to his brother. He took in the murderous glares he was getting from Harry, Hermione and Dora and barked. "You three are coming with me! Let's see how much you feel like laughing when you're being turned over to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to be charged for illegal use of underage magic and assault!"

Harry had had enough of these bastards so he burst out of his seat. Percy looked as though he didn't know whether to explode or piss himself when Harry suddenly got right in his face and said in an icy tone. "No, we're not! You are _obviously_ related to that red headed idiot who forced his way in here and tried to feed us a ridiculous cock and bull story about how the rest of the train was packed so he needed to stay here, even though as you can see this compartment is already quite full. He then proceeded to insult my cousin and leer at my other cousins and my friends so blatantly that he made them all very uncomfortable and upset so I told him to leave. He attacked _me_ then, so I was forced to defended myself, he wouldn't stop so eventually I kicked him out the door and closed and locked it to keep him out. And there's no way we're leaving the others alone in case your creepy brother comes back, so none of us are going _anywhere_ with you and you can get out too!…. Well? What are you waiting for? Move along Carrot Top!"

Percy's rage at having his authority as a _prefect_ ignored _and_ being spoken to like that by a first year tipped the scales and he drew his wand and tried to curse Harry. Harry could see the Hufflepuff prefect standing in the doorway getting ready to intercede so he 'accidentally' knocked the wand out of Percy's hand and stamped on it enough times in the ensuing scuffle to ensure that it was totally destroyed. The scuffle was quickly stopped by the other prefect barking "Weasley! What in the seven hells do you think you're doing, drawing your wand on a first year like that and attacking him like a common Muggle?" as he dragged him off Harry.

"I… I was just defending myself! He attacked me!"

"Lying must run in your family Weasley, because I heard everything from the point where you tried to threaten them with being charged by the DMLE and I _saw_ you draw your wand on him without any real provocation. Like young Mister….?"

"Potter."

His eyes widened at that but he nodded and continued. "Like young Mister Potter said, they aren't going _anywhere_ with you, and you won't be laying any false charges against them _either_ Weasley!"

"They _aren't_ false charges, they ganged up on my brother and beat him up badly enough to break his arm, and he saw _him_ using magic to close the door!"

Harry pulled out his wand and handed it to the other prefect. "Do you know how to do the Prior Incantato charm?"

The prefect shook his head, and asked what it was. "It shows what the last spell cast with the wand was, do it again to see the one before that and so on. Just touch your wand to mine and say pri-OR in-can-TAH-toh."

Luckily, Harry had closed the door wandlessly, because he'd been trying to do everything wandlessly since he came back, so the only spells on the wand were the simple ones Mister Ollivander had had him do in the shop to see whether it worked after Mister Ollivander remade it, and the power of the spells cast wasn't indicated by the Prior Incantato charm. When he was done the prefect handed it back with thanks. "That's a useful spell that one Mister Potter, you don't mind me sharing it with the other prefects do you?"

He nodded his thanks when Harry shook his head but looked down at the remains of Weasley's wand spread across the floor and laughed. "I don't see it working on _Weasley's_ wand though."

Percy suddenly dropped to his knees with a moan and desperately tried to gather up the remains of his wand when he realised what he was talking about, then angrily surged to his feet again. "I'll have you charged for this! It's a serious offence to deliberately break someone's wand!"

The prefect tried to shut him up but Harry cut him off. "No, I've had enough of this! This matter _will_ be going to the DMLE and we will all be supplying our memories to show _exactly_ what happened in here, and him and his brother will be too!"

Percy started to say that he couldn't make them when Harry unmasked his Potter House and Black Heir's rings and held up his hand. "Actually, I can! And for your information _Weasley_ , attacking the Head and Heir of two Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses is a _far_ more serious offence than any of the shite you've been coming out with, and unlike you, we can _prove_ that both you and your brother have done exactly that!"

He turned to Susan. "Countess Bones, do you think you could contact your Aunt for me so that we can get this out of the way quickly once we get to Hogwarts, please?"

She nodded. "Of course Duke Potter."

Percy and the prefect were looking confused, so Harry decided to have a little fun. "Oh I am sorry, we haven't properly introduced ourselves, have we? This is Countess Susan Bones, Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Bones, and the niece and ward of Madam Bones, the Director of the DMLE. Sitting beside her is Viscount Neville Longbottom, Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom….. Beside Heir Longbottom is Baroness Daphne Greengrass, Heiress to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Greengrass, and her sister Miss Astoria Greengrass, Heiress to the Most Ancient Druid House of Yowann. This is my best friend, Miss Hermione Granger, Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Bodhmall, beside her is Miss Luna Lovegood, Heiress to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Lovegood, beside _her_ is my dear cousin, Miss Dora Tonkas….. and as I've said, I am Duke Henry Potter, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, and Heir to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black….. Oh, and by the way, _his_ brother was leering at _all_ of the ladies here in a most disgusting manner, but he was making a _particular_ point of staring at Miss Bones' chest, I'm sure that Madam Bones will be wanting to look into _that_!"

Both the prefect and Weasley were just standing there with their mouths open at that point, but the prefect snapped his shut and sketched a bow to Harry and the girls. "I do apologise that you have been subjected to something like this Duke Potter, ladies, please let me know if you ever require anything, I am Gabriel Truman." Then he grabbed Percy and dragged him out of the compartment. Dora stood to close the door by hand this time.

Hermione wrinkled her nose up. "From the smell, I think you actually made Percy wet himself at least, are you pleased with yourself Harry?"

He sat beside her again and kissed her. "I _am_ actually Mione, because with any luck this will resolve our Weasley problem for the moment at least as the Ancient House rules are quite clear on things like this, so there's no way Dumbledore will be able to keep those two at Hogwarts. I'm sure that Fred and George never had anything to do with or knew about what was done to us…." Hermione nodded at that "but this will give Auntie Ami the excuse she needs to probe them and those two and with any luck, clear the twins and find out exactly what those two are involved in, and I'm sure she could find some way to get them all to do inheritance tests as well so Arthur can find out the truth about that so yes, I _am_ quite happy with the situation."

Dora was grinning at him. "That is a plan worthy of a true Black, I am impressed My Lord."

He just nodded regally to her and said. "Why thank you dear cousin." and they all burst out laughing again.

Then they concentrated on giving their familiars some well deserved attention for managing to keep control while their master and mistresses were being threatened.


	5. Dumbledork

**Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

At Hogsmeade station, Efa, Emyr and Dobby turned up to take their familiars and trunks up to where the others were waiting.

Once out on the platform though, Harry frowned as he looked down to where Hagrid was calling the First years to him. "Hagrid has too good a heart to have been involved in this, and given the fact that the anti-giant feeling was even stronger back when he and Professor Flitwick attended Hogwarts, he would have had to be outstanding to even get in…. I'd lay money on the fact that Dumbledore's been interfering with him to keep him down at this level. We need to be putting more effort into helping Hagrid."

Hermione hugged him. "We will Harry, but at the moment our priority is to get a couple of boats so that the others can enjoy their first sight of Hogwarts in peace." Harry nodded, hugging her back, and they headed down to where Hagrid was.

It _was_ fun watching Nev, Sue, Luna, Daph and Tori's awe as they first caught sight Hogwarts, but their enjoyment ended when they were waiting to be led into the Great Hall for the sorting, because Malfoy came up with Crabbe and Goyle and like Weasley, Malfoy sprouted the same lines as he had last time.

Harry looked down at the hand the Malfoy had stuck out at him and then looked back up at him.

"Are you _really_ Draco Malfoy? Because I'm certain that I heard Duke Black order the annulment of your parents' marriage a few weeks ago."

Malfoy was livid. "Yes I am! Father corrected that error straight away!"

Harry chuckled. "Ooh, that must have cost him a bit, especially after the House of Malfoy lost so _much_ to the House of Black…. but that doesn't explain how you can be so ignorant of the rules of our society…"

He looked at Sue, Nev, Daphne and Astoria (as the ones raised to observe House politics) in feigned confusion, but they just shrugged and shook their heads as if to say that they didn't understand either, so he turned back to Malfoy.

"After all, I have only been in this world for less than a month now but _I've_ had time to learn the rules…. So I would have _certainly_ expected someone who has been raised in what is rumoured to be, or at least _was_ , one of the richer families in Magical Britain, _and_ who's mother _was_ part of the House of Black at one point, to understand that it is _never_ acceptable for a social inferior to introduce themselves to their superiors unless their social status is within one or two levels at most of their superiors'…. Therefore, while it _would_ have been acceptable for Countess Bones, Heir Longbottom, Heiress Greengrass or Heiress Lovegood to introduce themselves to me…."

(The fact that he had named them in the proper order of rank _was_ noted by those who knew these things but Sue, Daphne, Luna and Nev tried to cover up their laughter at this by bowing their heads as they curtsied or bowed as applicable.)

"We _all_ know that the Heir to the…." he gave a cough of laughter " _Noble_ House of Malfoy would be **at least** six or seven levels below the Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter…. I am of course presuming that your father _has_ completed the process to _formally_ accept you as his heir again…. and ignoring all those ugly rumours that your family's elevation to Noble rank in Henry the Sixth's Second Reign was never actually _formally_ confirmed, because otherwise you would be at least _nine_ levels below me, as you would no more than an ordinary member of a _Minor_ House…. If that, because if your father hasn't _formally_ accepted you back into the House of Malfoy, you aren't even a part of House Malfoy…."

Most of the Purebloods were laughing openly now, because the ones who were informed about these things knew that what _Duke_ Potter (it _did_ stick in the craws of many of them to have to refer to a Half-Blood _as_ that, but then the Potters had been blood traitors for centuries, it was even _worse_ for the ones from the Dark Faction Houses to have to refer to him as _Heir Black_ , because the Blacks had remained pure up until now) said was correct, and they were quite sure that Malfoy's father _wouldn't_ have bothered doing those things. That titbit about the Nobility of House Malfoy being in question was delicious though, they _had_ to look into that. Their fathers had been laughing about the fact that the _only_ reason he'd given his wife and son the Malfoy name back was to save face in the Wizengamot after Duke Black backed him into a corner by ensuring that everyone in the court room witnessed the fact that he was powerless to do anything about the annulment of their marriage and the loss of so many of their holdings and so much of their fortune.

Crabbe and Goyle just looked confused about what in the seven hells was going on but Malfoy's face was turning an interesting shade of purple as he worked himself up to an explosion so Minerva hustled them all into the Great Hall before this could escalate any further…. and to stop herself bursting out laughing as Harry had obviously inherited both his mother's sharp wit _and_ his father's sharp tongue…. Lily's tongue had been sharp enough too if someone irked her but that had definitely sounded like James, because Charlus and Dorea had ensured that he knew the rules of the Magical Houses.

* * *

Once inside, Harry flashed a smile over his shoulder at Hermione as she was repeating what she'd said last time about the magical ceiling to Luna, but at least the repeat was intentional this time. They all applauded when Sue was selected for Hufflepuff again, and waited to see what happened with Hermione, because the plan was for all of them to get into Hufflepuff with Sue. Auntie Mona had been crowing good naturedly about that to Auntie Minnie and Uncle Fili.

Harry he was drawn into Hermione's discussion with the Sorting Hat almost as soon as Minerva put the Hat on her head. 'I knew that I was right about the link between you two!…. Oh dear, I am so sorry for what you both had to go through….but Lady Hogwarts has requested that I formally welcome the true heirs of her Founders back to the school on her behalf…. and please allow me to do the same for myself!'

The Sorting Hat raised an issue when they asked to have all eight of them put into Hufflepuff. 'We have a serious problem with that My Lord, as I have just discovered that the Headmaster has put a compulsion on me to ensure that Harry Potter is sorted into Gryffindor, and it is too strong for me to ignore…..' he stopped at the grim laugh from Harry over the link 'What is there to laugh at My Lord? I cannot ignore this compulsion….'

'You have indicated that you can look in my head over the link friend Hat...'

The Hat cut him off there. 'I prefer to be referred to as Merlin My Lord, you see….'

'I'm sorry Merlin, but may the story wait until after we've resolved this issue please?'

'Of course My lord, I do apologise!'

'No need to apologise Merlin, but what I was saying was… look inside my head and see what my true name is.'

Merlin laughed delightedly (over their link only) a moment later. 'Ah yes, I see your point Duke Henry James Potter-Peverell….. I would be delighted to honour your request to place your entire party together in HufflePuff My Lord, and your's as well of course My Lady.'

He chuckled at the sense of regal approval that Hermione managed to project at that, but seemed disappointed when he asked…. 'Do you think we have taken long enough to determine Lady Granger's house?' and they both agreed over the link. He announced. " _ **HUFFLEPUFF!**_ " and Hermione went to sit with Sue.

Tori was next, and even though Merlin had agreed, they all relaxed when he quickly announced " _HUFFLEPUFF!_ " and she happily went to sit with Sue and Hermione. Then it was Daph's turn and it went even quicker.

It wasn't too long before it was Nev's turn and Merlin announced " _HUFFLEPUFF!_ " almost immediately. Luna took longer but Harry was fairly sure that was just because she was having a nice chat with Merlin.

He tried to tune out Weasley's loud and insulting comments about Nev and Luna as they happily headed over to sit with Sue and the other girls, but he was gratified that it didn't take more than a meaningful look at his arm in a sling and an evil smile to shut him up as he sullenly subsided in fear of what he saw in Harry's eyes.

Harry just laughed when Malfoy proudly strutted to the Slytherin table after he was selected, expecting the accolades and deference due to the Heir to the House of Malfoy, but they just laughed at him because the other first years had already told them what had happened outside. It was disconcerting to see Harry getting approving nods from the children of some of Magical Britain's most established Pureblood houses at the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables, who were recognised as being the school's foremost experts in the history of the Houses of Magical Britain (some actually knew more than many historians).

The reason for this approval was that a House's proper place in the social structure of Magical Britain was even more more important than blood status to many of the old families such as their's, so they simply _had_ to acknowledge such a masterful put down of an upstart like Malfoy. Especially when it utilised such detailed historical knowledge of Magical Britain, because while the detail had gone beyond what they themselves knew, what they _did_ know supported it as being accurate. Some of these history buffs were trying to work out how to get enough of the first years who'd heard it down to the Ministry of Magic to ensure that they got all the details of what was already being referred to as 'The Malfoy Put Down' from their memories.

By the time Minerva called "Duke Henry Potter", Harry was eager to get this over and done with. Dora was yet to come but he didn't expect any issues for her, considering that she'd just spent the last seven years here as a Hufflepuff.

Much of his and Hermione's discussion with Merlin this time was about the fact that the reason he preferred to be called Merlin was because Merlin had bonded his image into this Mage's hat (a much more comprehensive image than the ones that generally went into the later magical portraits, as it actually retained a great deal of his knowledge and some of his magic, which had only grown after being immersed in the magic percolating through Hogwarts from the lay lines which joined under her for a thousand years) in the Sixth Century so that he could continue to serve the rulers of the land as an advisor after he was gone. Four centuries later, he had been passed down to Godric Gryffindor, so when they were having trouble matching students to the best school houses for them in the early days of Hogwarts they tried using him as he suggested and it had worked well. The Founders were having trouble getting acceptance from some of more the traditional witches and wizards at the time, so Merlin had agreed to let them to use the story that Godric had created him to improve the Founders' credibility.

Merlin was also complaining that he hadn't really had anyone but them and Luna to talk to for at least seven hundred years because they only ever wanted to use him to sort students once a year, so when Harry and Hermione said that they'd be happy to talk to him if they could work out a way to do it, he excitedly talked them through the bonding ritual that Merlin had created to link him to the rulers he was meant to advise (though he was already linked to Harry as Head of the House of Emrys, because he was an Emrys heirloom), saying that that would hopefully allow them all to talk as Harry did with Hermione. When the ritual was done, he thanked Harry and snorted. 'Oh, I can't wait to see the Headmaster's face when I announce Hufflepuff…. I don't know what happened to that boy Harry Potter who was supposed to come before you though Duke Henry, do you or Countess Hermione have any idea?'

Harry snorted at that, but tried to cover it up. 'No...wait, maybe he's that red headed boy?'

'Oh no, _that_ one has Slytherin written all over him! …'

Merlin laughed delightedly again when Hermione rebuked them 'Harry... Merlin, Behave!' because he had obviously been quite lonely.

'Oh well, I suppose it's time to see whether I can give the Headmaster a heart attack, let's hope!'

" _ **HUFFLEPUFF!**_ "

* * *

When Minerva stepped up and took the Hat off his head with a smile, Merlin anxiously called to them over the link to ask whether it had worked and Harry and Hermione were reassuring him as Harry started to head for the Hufflepuff table, only to be brought to a stop by a shout from the High Table. "Stop Harry! You must go back to be re-sorted! The Hat has made an error!"

When he turned to cast a cool look at the High Table, no-one could work out how his quiet voice carried to every corner of the hall. "As you should know Headmaster, my proper form of address is _Duke_ Potter. I do not know you and therefore your use of such a familiar form of address for me is both inappropriate and unacceptable. However…. in deference to your position as the Headmaster here at Hogwarts, I will permit you to address me as _Mister_ Potter if you insist on being so informal. I will let this error pass Headmaster, but no repeats of this will be countenanced!"

Severus Snape shouted at him from his seat beside Dumbledore. "Potter! You will show the Headmaster the proper respect! You insolent…..."

Harry shifted his attention to Snape and his icy tone made most in the hall pull back, because it was still carrying throughout the hall as he cut him off. "And _y_ _ou_ appear to be hard of hearing _Professor_! Because as I have _just_ advised the Headmaster, my proper title is _Duke_ Potter, and _you_ are not permitted to address me as _anything_ else! Seeing as you were raised in the Muggle world as I was Professor, I will explain to you just _once_ how things work in Magical Britain. You have quite publicly addressed the Head of one Most Noble and Most Ancient House _and_ the Heir to another in a most insulting and aggressive manner. Therefore, the _only_ options available to you here are for you to either make an equally public apology which is sincere enough for me to accept, and ensure that you never make another mistake of this nature again or…."

" _ **You insufferable brat! You're just as bad as your father!**_ _ **I'll make y**_ _ **ou pay for trying to threaten me!**_ _ **You will rue this**_ _ **day**_ _ **for the rest**_ _ **of your miserable existence**_ _ **here**_ _ **!**_ "

"Or you, the Minor House of Snape and the Noble House of Prince will all be penalised for the insult rendered here in front of so many witnesses... But you have now taken this to another level altogether by actually _**threatening**_ the Head and Heir of two Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses in front of all these witnesses, so now you _must_ be tried and sentenced for your crimes against the Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Potter and Black. In _addition_ to whatever other punishments you are sentenced to by the Wizengamot…. by the Most Ancient House Laws of Magical Britain I, Duke Henry James Potter, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, require that the Noble House of Prince and the Minor House of Snape be formally eradicated in Magical Britain, and _everything_ belonging to Severus Tobias Snape, the Minor House of Snape and the Noble House of Prince is now forfeit to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter in penalty for your crimes here today, so mote it be!" He intended more penalties for Snape, but that would have to wait until his Wizengamot trial.

When Hermione, Sue, Luna solemnly repeated "So mote it be!" everyone in the Great Hall felt the magic accept Harry's decree, because the Great Hall of Hogwarts was the original court of Magical Britain and under the Most Ancient House Laws of Magical Britain that were invoked, the Heads of the Most Ancient Houses' word _was_ law there. This meant that the Noble House of Prince and the Minor House of Snape had now ceased to exist and the Professor formally known as Severus Snape had lost the family magic of the Noble House of Prince and the Minor House of Snape, and much of what he had created himself as well, because any major achievements of any members of the House became family magic, rather than the members', and as such it had now been transferred to the House of Potter. At the same time, _every_ possession of Severus Snape, the Minor House of Snape and the Noble House of Prince had _also_ been transferred to the House of Potter. He sat back, suddenly feeling rather confused and strangely depleted and he was trying to work out what the hell had just happened. The history buffs were whispering furiously to each other and Minerva, Pomona, Filius and Poppy were looking at Harry, Hermione, Sue, Luna with a mixture of awe and grim satisfaction.

Harry turned to Professor McGonagall. "Professor McGonagall, would you be so kind as to call the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to come to Hogwarts and address this matter immediately please? It would also be appreciated if you could inform them that I will require a pensieve to record memories of the details of two other separate altercations involving two students who attacked my party on the Hogwarts Express which must also be dealt with."

Minerva shook herself out of the amazement that she'd just witnessed the first known invocation of Most Ancient House Law in over half a millennium (the agreement of over half of the Heads of the Most Ancient Houses was required to invoke Most Ancient House Law, but between them Harry, Hermione, Sue and Luna represented fourteen of the twenty Houses) and curtsied, saying. "Most certainly Duke Potter. I shall do so post haste." before heading for the door.

* * *

Just before she reached the door, Dumbledore came out of his stupor and shouted. "Professor McGonagall! What do you think you're doing? I _forbid_ you to contact the DMLE! This is an internal Hogwarts matter and as such it will be addressed by _me_!"

She turned and gave him him a grim smile which held more than a trace of malice…. The old fool had just experienced _that_ display of the power of the old magic and he still believed that he had any authority here? What an idiot! "Headmaster, as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, I find your lack of understanding of the legal requirements of Magical Britain extremely disturbing! As Duke Potter has quite rightly stated, under the foundation laws of Magical Britain, the _only_ option available to us in the event of what has occurred here is to call in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and turn the matter over to them _immediately_. I for one fully intend to comply with my duties under the laws of Magical Britain."

With that, she curtsied to Harry again and proceeded on out of the Great Hall, returning nearly half an hour later with the Director of the DMLE and a team of Aurors, it would have been sooner but they had to make a stop to collect Arthur Weasley, and _that_ had required stunning Molly Weasley and placing memory charms on both her and Ginny. While they were there they also had a formal inheritance test done on Ginny, to find out who's daughter she actually was.

Minerva _was_ grateful that Pomona's prefect had brought his detailed description of what he saw of the altercation in their compartment to her as soon as he arrived at Hogwarts, because this meant that she could openly hand his report to Amelia when she arrived to initiate that portion of the investigation. While she was gone, Professor Sprout had continued with the sorting of the rest of the First years.

Harry had continued on to the Hufflepuff table and sat with the others without another word or glance to the High Table when Minerva left the Great Hall. Even Dumbledore had worked out by then that trying to take the matter further would just make things worse… Severus was still trying to work out what the hell had just happened.

There was considerable amusement at Ronald Weasley's reaction to being sorted into Slytherin, but Merlin's clear response when Dumbledore demanded for a second time in anyone present's memory that a student be resorted was even more interesting. "No…. Mister Weasley has no discernible courage, chivalry, intelligence, interest in work or loyalty…. his only motivation is ambition, and most of that relates to what he can do with the money he'll be getting from you for spying on Harry….."

They were astounded to discover that the Hat could move on its own then, because it quickly hopped off the sorting stool and scurried under the nearest table to avoid the Reducto curses that Dumbledore had started throwing at it. When it was under the table, Harry told it to hold still for a moment using their link and quickly cast non-verbal wandless disillusionment and summoning charms on it, stuffing it into his robes as soon as it came to him.

That left them in the situation where they had one student left to be sorted without the Sorting Hat, so Pomona asked him. "Where do you think the Hat would have placed you Mister Zambini?"

His dismissive drawl as he said "Slytherin of course!" left no doubt in her mind that he was correct.

"Very well, Slytherin it is! Off you go now!"

* * *

Dumbledore was too tied up in his own worries about whether Potter had heard enough to work out what the Hat was saying to note or care that Pomona had bypassed the normal sorting process with that last boy. He, Snape and Quirrell had also missed the fact that there were now several disillusioned communications mirrors trained on them from the Hufflepuff table, and that six of the Aurors who arrived with Amelia just after that were in fact Angela, Sirius, Remus, Alastor, Ulfr and Snorri under heavy glamours.

The group of new Hufflepuffs were taken off to Professor McGonagall's office two at a time to record their memories of what happened on the Hogwarts Express, and what happened with Snape (Amelia, Sirius, Angela, Alastor and Arthur were in awe as they watched the memory of the invocation of Most Ancient House Law), and discuss their plan of attack. Quirellmort (the others liked that) hadn't worked out that he was their primary focus here as yet, so unless he forced their hand they would wait until they had everyone in place before they moved on him. They were fairly sure how Severus and Dumbledore would react when they stunned Quirellmort, so they wanted to have everyone in position to take them down too. The plan for Quirrellmort was to stun him into next week, rush in to slap magic suppressing shackles on him and then knock off the turban off his head so that everyone in the Great Hall would see Voldemort's face growing out of the back of his head. There was no doubt that he was there because they could all feel his foul presence.

The others were worried when Harry insisted that _he_ had to be the one to take Dumbledore out to gain mastery of the Elder Wand and they had to remind themselves of how powerful he was, and that he'd probably seen more fighting in the seven years it took him to defeat Voldemort than most of them had in their lives. Even then, Harry still had to remind them that Dumbledore wasn't really as powerful as the stories about him said, as _that_ was mostly the Elder Wand while _Dumbledore's_ main strength was catching people unprepared and using memory charms and compulsions to get what he wanted from them. _That_ reassured them enough to relax and take note when he told them exactly where to find Dumbledore's original wand, which he always carried as well as the Elder Wand, explaining that it looked similar enough to the Elder wand that most of the people in the Great Hall wouldn't be able to tell the difference afterwards, so they were to take the Elder wand and replace it with his original wand before they revived him. He added that casting a Confundus on him before he was revived should keep him befuddled enough to make their play work, but if he tried to attack he'd be much less dangerous without the Elder Wand.

It took the Aurors quite a while to collect statements and memories from many of the people in the Great Hall and students were being taken out and brought back all the time, so no-one really knew where anyone was. They had also been putting mild short term compulsions on the students to ignore the High Table before they were sent back to limit the number of clear memories of what happened. They were all watching Amelia when she returned and acted as soon as she gave the signal. Angela, Sirius, Remus, Alastor, Kingsley and Amelia whipped out their wands and stunned Quirrellmort, with Sirius, Remus, Kingsley, Ulfr and Snorri immediately racing up to slap extra strength magic suppressing shackles on his hands and feet that were linked to a magic suppressing belt as well to prevent him doing anything with his magic.

Severus was already on edge because he was still trying to work out what had happened, and knew that he was done for if he was taken in and questioned by the Aurors, and Dumbledore was even worse because he couldn't imagine any way of getting out of _either_ what Severus would most likely reveal or Voldemort's presence as a Hogwarts Professor if it was discovered without being ruined, let alone _both_. Therefore it was no surprise when they both leapt up, pulling out their wands in shock as soon as Quirrell was stunned, but they were stunned into next week before they could get much off because Harry, Amelia, Alastor and Angela were ready for them. Sirius raced over to Dumbledore, pocketing the Elder Wand before anyone else could see it, quickly retrieving Dumbledore's other wand from where Harry said it would be and casting a Confundus Charm on him before he stood up with Dumbledore's wand in plain view in his hand and revived him, though he was chuckling to himself as he did so because that massively overpowered stunner that Harry hit him with would have probably been more than enough to addle his brain by itself, as the way he was bounced off the wall behind the High Table like that had almost guaranteed a severe case of concussion.

Dumbledore immediately demanded that his wand be returned as soon as he was revived, but he was distracted by the (genuinely) furious Director of the DMLE in his face, demanding to know what in the seven hells he was doing, joining those _creatures_ in attacking her Aurors? His head was fuzzy and he couldn't understand what in the world she was talking about until he saw Voldemort's face in plain view on the back of Quirrell's head as he was being levitated out (just high enough over their heads to get everyone's attention and make sure they saw Voldemort's face) in magic suppressing shackles _without_ his turban, and Severus being levitated out the same way right behind him, with the sleeve torn off his robes to expose the vivid Dark Mark on his bare arm.

He tried to demand that they release Severus at once and was enraged when Amelia ignored his authority and turned on him angrily. "I wouldn't be making any demands if I were you _Headmaster._ While you may have managed to get your pet Death Eater off last time, _this_ time we have memories from over half the people in this Hall of the threats and verbal attacks he hurled at the Head and Heir of _two_ Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses, and the Laws of Magical Britain are _quite_ clear on that, just as they are on the fact that he attacked my Aurors in the performance of their duties of arresting… what was that again? Duke Black put it so well… oh yes! _T_ _he common Half-Blood usurper Tom Riddle who falsely styled himself as Lord Voldemort…_." She caught Sirius' eye as he smirked at that, then went on.

"The problem is, while we can understand why your pet Death eater would leap to assistance of his master when Riddle attacked my Aurors, we _cannot_ understand why _you_ would stand with the one you _claim_ to oppose. For that matter, why did you not report Riddle's presence to us? His foul presence was clear to us from the moment we entered the Hall, that was how we were ready for him when he attacked. If you missed something _that_ obvious, you are clearly no longer able to adequately protect the students at Hogwarts and should step down as Headmaster. Rest assured that I _will_ be raising this matter with the Hogwarts Board of Governors, and the Wizengamot and ICW as well, because there must be questions raised as to whether you are capable of carrying out _any_ of your duties in light of this."

* * *

Dumbledore tried to argue, but a grim faced Arthur Weasley entered the Great Hall with an Auror at that point and Percival and Ronald Weasley were called forward before Amelia went on, casting a sonorous (even though everyone in the Hall had heard every word she'd said up to that point quite clearly). "All the evidence in the matter of Duke Henry Potter versus Percival and Ronald Weasley has been reviewed by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Mister Arthurus Weasley, Head of the Ancient Druid House of Weasley and Patriarch of the Weasley Family. This evidence has conclusively proven that Ronald Bilius Weasley and Percival Ignatius Weasley both attacked a group of first year students without provocation in two separate incidents on the Hogwarts Express earlier today. The fact that the majority of the students attacked were in fact Heads and Heirs of Most Ancient Houses renders severe punishments mandatory for their crimes, however as the primary victim of these attacks, Duke Henry James Potter has advocated leniency and so it has been agreed between myself, Madam Amelia Bones, Director of Magical Britain's Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Duke Henry James Potter, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter and Mister Arthurus Septimus Weasley, Head of the Ancient Druid House of Weasley and Patriarch of the Weasley Family, that under the Most Ancient House Laws of Magical Britain, Ronald Bilius Weasley and Percival Ignatius Weasley's punishment shall be to be expelled and banned from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, stripped of their magic and have their wands snapped, so mote it be!"

Harry, Hermione, Susan, Luna and Sirius quietly intoned "So mote it be!" and they all felt the magic accepting the decree again.

Percy and Ron immediately collapsed as their magic was stripped from them, and Aurors dug out and snapped Ron's wand. They started to look for Percy's wand but Amelia told them not to bother as it was already broken. The Hogwarts symbol had also disappeared from their robes, so Hogwarts had expelled them as required.

Minerva bent down to rip the prefect's badge off Percy's robes and turned angrily on Dumbledore, partly to distract him from what had just happened (again!), but mostly because she was genuinely angry.

"Never again will I let you override my decisions in regard to the representatives of my house! You forced me to make _that_ one of my prefects against my better judgement, and he was obviously no more fit for the job than some of your choices of professors! By the way Headmaster, shouldn't you be getting busy finding Hogwarts another Potions master and Defence master? After all, their classes are supposed to be starting tomorrow!" With that she turned and stormed off, and as Percy and Ron were being taken out to be checked over by Poppy before Arthur took them home, Amelia indicated for Sirius to give Dumbledore his wand.

Even through his rage at the events of the night and being spoken to like that, the concussion and the Confundus, Dumbledore could tell that this wasn't the Elder Wand and he angrily said that this wasn't his wand and demanded that his real wand be returned to him at once!

Amelia just shook her head at him. "I cannot understand how we did not see this before Headmaster, you have _obviously_ lost your faculties. I saw my Auror pick up your wand before he revived you, are you trying to say that he created a false wand at that very moment? If he were capable of doing something like that, Mister Brown is seriously under-utilised as a common Auror. I can see that this is disturbing you though, so…. Thompson! Go and get Mister Ollivander please, hopefully him validating the Headmaster's wand will help settle him."

Dumbledore tried to stop the Auror (who was Remus under a glamour) but he was already gone. He was enraged at being treated like this. She had actually had the gall to call him a mental incompetent in front of all his staff and students! Piled on top of the blatant disrespect that McGonagall and Potter had shown him in front of everyone and worry about what they would get from Severus and Quirrell, he was beside himself!

He was so worked up that he failed to note how suspicious it was that the Auror had returned with Garrick Ollivander in about ten minutes, or that Garrick refused to look him in the eye as he took the wand and examined it. When he was done, Garrick looked at Amelia, saying "Yes, this is indeed the wand that my grandfather, Gerbold Ollivander, sold to Albus as a child…. its outward appearance has been altered somewhat a long time ago…. at least eighty or ninety years ago I'd say… but the fact remains that this is unquestionably Albus Dumbledore's wand." as he handed the wand to her.

Amelia looked at Dumbledore. "Are you satisfied Headmaster? Magical Britain's foremost expert in wand lore, the grandson of the very wand maker who sold you your wand, has confirmed that this is your wand, surely you cannot question Mister Ollivander's word?"

* * *

Dumbledore snatched the wand from her and stormed out of the Great Hall without a word. Amelia looked after him, trying to keep a straight face as she asked. "Where is he going in such a hurry?"

Minerva scowled at her as she was trying hard not to laugh. "Perhaps he's anxious to secure us a new Potions master and Defence Against the Dark Arts master…" she paused as if something had just occurred to her. "Though I do hope that he doesn't choose _another_ Dark Lord for that role!"

She paused again. "There is something else that is more urgent actually… as Slytherin has no House Master now and with the disturbances of tonight the students will definitely need someone to turn to…. Septima, this doesn't normally come under my purview as the Deputy Headmistress, but as you are our only Professor who was in Slytherin, would you be prepared to take over as Slytherin's House Mistress, temporarily at least…. I'm afraid that Albus will most likely overturn this when he hears of it, purely because I suggested it."

Septima nodded, trying to cover a smile. "I will gladly step in for as long as I am needed Minerva. It will be good to get back into the Slytherin Dungeon again, as Severus was adamant that none of us were allowed to enter his domain since he took over ten years ago."

While they had an audience (as just about everyone was watching and listening), Amelia added. "I'm sure that you will do admirably Professor Vector, and if you and the students want you to stay on in the role of the Slytherin House Mistress, let me know, I and the other Hogwarts Governors are quite capable of making the appointment permanent."

They were all surprised when the Slytherin House Ghost, the Bloody Baron, suddenly appeared and weighed into the discussion, rising through the floor and bowing in turn to Minerva, Septima and Amelia he said. "Please call on me if you require any assistance in convincing the Board of Governors of this Madam Bones. Miss Vector was a credit to our house when she was a student here and she is a credit to the school now as a Professor, which is far more than I can say for the ones that your Aurors just removed."

They didn't have to feign confusion at that. "But Professor Quirrell wasn't in Slytherin Baron?"

"Oh I wasn't referring to _him_ Madam Bones, I was referring to Tom Riddle…. Actually it is strange that the Headmaster did not recognise Riddle as he had quite a bit to do with him here as a student, he brought him to Hogwarts actually, found him in a muggle orphanage as I recall..."

Amelia looked at Harry and he nodded as the Bloody Baron's words brought the memories back to him. She nodded contemplatively. "I thank you for this news Baron, may we have an opportunity to discuss this further with you at a later date?"

He bowed to her again. "Certainly Madam Bones, just advise Merlin when you wish to discuss the matter." With that he sank through the floor.

She went to ask what he meant about Merlin but Harry caught her eye and shook his head.

* * *

Just then Angela caught her eye and signalled that the goblins had finished destroying the Horcruxes so it was time to get rid of Quirrellmort. Amelia nodded and let Minerva know that they had to go, picking up Angela, Sirius and Alastor along the way to the floo.

When they reached the Ministry of Magic they proceeded to the Department of Mysteries and hence the Death Chamber, where there a few people were waiting, Kingsley and other trusted Aurors were guarding Quirrellmort, Saul Croaker and a few Unspeakables were in the room, Rufus Scrimgeour (the Head of the Auror's Office), Bartemius Crouch and a number of prominent Wizengamot members, Griselda Marchbanks, Tiberius Ogden, Cyrus Greengrass and Augusta Longbottom, plus Baron Greystoke, who had been invited to witness the elimination of the one who almost stolen the Philosopher's Stone for the Flamels.

When Amelia arrived, half of them demanded to know what was going on, and she explained that when they were called to Hogwarts to investigate three separate instances of attacks against the Heads and Heirs of Most Ancient Houses, she and the Aurors with her recognised a foul presence emanating from one of the Professors. This put them on guard, so when he attacked in his attempt to escape, a number of them stunned him and secured him with magic suppressing shackles. The turban he was wearing was knocked off when he was stunned, and they discovered that he actually had a second face growing out of the back of his head. Those who had faced the one styling himself as Lord Voldemort in the past recognised the taint of his magic, so he was brought here to be executed, in the presence of them and other significant members of the Wizengamot.

Scrimgeour, Crouch and some of the others tried to argue that this couldn't be Voldemort because he was killed by Potter ten years ago, even though the evil emanating from him was palpable and the presence of a second face controlled by a separate entity was rather conclusive proof of a particularly heinous form of possession, one which was obviously killing Quirrell's body (the signs were that Quirrell himself was gone, as nothing remained of the person he'd been before he left on the quest that he returned from like this). Amelia called the old Aurors like Alastor who had faced Voldemort and the unspeakables to identify who this was, and the consensus of opinion was that this was definitely Voldemort, so the questioners backed down.

At that point, the last of the invited Wizengamot members arrived, Elphias Doge, Julius Macmillan, Thaddeus Nott and Lucius Malfoy. Minerva looked at Amelia in disbelief but she murmured that doing it this way meant that neither side could claim there was a conspiracy or that they had been deliberately excluded. As expected, as soon as she explained what they were there for Doge demanded to know why the Chief Warlock wasn't present and tried to hold things up until he was, but Amelia did a good job of looking regretful as she said that the Chief Warlock's competence was another concern that would have to be addressed in view of his actions tonight, but the blight of Voldemort was too great a danger to risk allowing it to continue any longer, so they had to proceed with the execution immediately now that all the witnesses were present.

The rest of them overrode Doge, Macmillan, Nott and Malfoy's objections and the Aurors sent Quirrellmort through the veil, screaming, pleading and threatening right up to the point where he actually passed through the veil. They all felt cleaner once that foul presence had passed through the veil, but Nott and Malfoy were worried because they'd flinched from the pain in their Dark Marks as their master passed through, and they'd caught the significant looks that Amelia and Alastor were giving them.


	6. Set Em Up N Knock Em Down

**In regard to a point brought up in a review, everything I could find said that Eileen Prince was the last of the Princes, and there was only conjecture that she** ** _may_** **have been disowned for marrying a muggle, like Andromeda Black was disowned for marrying the Muggleborn Ted Tonks, so in my world Severus Snape was the** ** _only_** **member of the Noble House of Prince** ** _and_** **Minor House of Snape (Snape bought the holdings needed to obtain a Baronet to get himself the status he believed that he deserved, because no-one had never told him anything about his mother's** ** _Noble_** **family).**

 **NB: I've made another minor amendment back at the start, it doesn't really change things but aligns the storyline better to its world in my mind. This was to change any references to 'common goblins' to 'hobgoblins', as the hobgoblins are closer to the HP description of goblins than other descriptions of goblins. Those lazy wizards just dropped the 'hob' off the name. There's more of a description of the Druids' curse in this chapter, because it explains how they freed Dobby of the rest of its effects.**

 **Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

Amelia and the others relaxed once Quirrell's body went through the veil with its dark passenger, because they were _all_ safer with Voldemort and his horcruxes gone, not just Harry. Amelia called for the Wizengamot members to come to her office, getting the pensieve set up so that the ones who had been at Hogwarts could present carefully selected memories which offered damning evidence that Albus Dumbledore had lost his facilities (she was thankful that the Muggle restrictions on the use of circumstantial evidence weren't generally known or accepted in Magical Britain, as she could paint Dumbledore in a rather bad light with what they'd put together), adding some of the recorded memories as well. She had to admit that what Harry set up with the wands had been a master stroke, because Dumbledore had never let anyone examine the Elder Wand too closely and didn't talk about it, for fear of a stronger wizard winning it off him, so to be ranting and raving that the wand which looked just like the one everyone remembered him having for over half century wasn't his, and then having Garrick Ollivander confirm that it was most definitely the wand that his grandfather had sold to Dumbledore put him in a _very_ bad light.

Malfoy and Nott just said that they'd been saying that the old fool wasn't competent for years and left, and Doge and Macmillan refused to listen to these lies about a great man like Albus and left too, no doubt to try and warn Albus about what was going on (they'd put money on Doge at least heading straight to Dumbledore). That cleared the way for Amelia to use the earlier memories of Dumbledore and Severus (she smiled to herself as she saw Tiberius and John trying to work out why they were referring to him his given name now, and more to the point, why they couldn't remember his surname) drawing their wands to attack the Aurors, and Dumbledore trying to stop them taking Severus out and arguing with Amelia. Amelia left in what she and Minerva were taunting him with, because it could easily be explained by them being angry that he'd exposed the students of Hogwarts to both a Death Eater that students had been complaining about for ten years _and_ Voldemort, and her niece and ward was just starting at Hogwarts. Alastor, Augusta, Angela, Sirius and Cyrus supported this by angrily saying that if their children and wards had been harmed by what Dumbledore had brought into the school, they would have ended him! Minerva also pointed out that she and the other heads of house and professors had often taken issues about how Severus treated the students to the Headmaster but he'd put them off every time.

Amelia changed tack then, bringing up the fact that the Headmaster had shown that he clearly regarded his own _wishes_ as sufficient to override the immutable thousand year old laws of Magical Britain, and that he had actually attempted to _join_ that Death Eater and Voldemort in attacking the Aurors. They put the memories into the pensieve to show how this happened and it was clear that he had in fact drawn his wand and begun to throw curses at the Aurors before he was stunned (they were careful to only show Dumbledore's actual stunning from angles where the stunners heading for Snape in the background made it appear that _he'd_ been stunned by a number of them like Quirrell to avoid questions about how one person could have had that much power, especially when it was an eleven year old boy who'd done it). They also showed how Dumbledore had started to throw Reductos towards the students in an attempt to stop the Sorting Hat from finishing what it was saying about why Slytherin was the only choice for Ronald Weasley.

While he wasn't about to argue that it was unconscionable for the _Headmaster_ to be risking students' lives like that, or that his other actions were almost certainly criminal, what the Hat was saying, and the fact that the Headmaster had tried to force it to put Weasley into another house was what caught Tiberius Ogden's (as they'd engineered it so the others would leave so they could talk to him and John de Greystoke alone) attention. Amelia had to force down a smile at this as it gave her the opportunity to bring up the fact that he'd actually attempted to do that _twice_ in one night, showing him the memories that they'd taken of Harry's sorting.

They hadn't had a chance to discuss this with Cyrus or Augusta before, so it was the first they'd heard that Daphne, Astoria and Neville had gone into Hufflepuff too, which was fun. Minerva stopped fast forwarding the memories just before she called Harry, and they watched the initial altercation between Harry and Snape that was the official reason for the DMLE to be called to Hogwarts. Tiberius was a stickler for the rules, so he knew quite well that everything that Harry and Minerva said was correct, and joined them in questioning how Dumbledore could be the Chief Warlock without knowing the laws of Magical Britain, but raised another point that played into their hands.

* * *

"Yes, yes, we definitely need to call for a vote in regard to Dumbledore holding that role if he does not care to make the effort to understand the laws of the land, and breaks them himself... but Cyrus, what is your younger daughter doing there? She cannot be eleven yet surely? You must know that students are not allowed to begin their magical education until after they have turned eleven!"

Minerva decided to handle this. "Madam Bones, do you have that copy of the Hogwarts Charter that I gave you handy?"

That got her a suspicious look from Tiberius so she explained while Amelia was getting her copy of the Charter from the drawer. "I made a copy of the Charter for Madam Bones when I called her at Duke Potter's request, because while I have no doubt that she has a good understanding of the foundation laws, no-one can be expected to remember all the specific details, and the original laws of Magical Britain were actually written into the Hogwarts Charter as it was the first set of legal rules accepted by the Wizards Council. I had a copy in my office because I had been going through it to confirm the requirements of Duke Potter's party… Thank you Amelia, now…." She made a show of spending a minute or two locating the specific rule she was looking for and then pushed it across, pointing to the rule. "I believe that this should answer your question Tiberius."

It took him a couple of minutes to decipher the old English, but it was clear enough. 'Once a child has begun to repeatedly display their magic, they are required be enrolled in a suitable magical school to learn to control their magic so that they do not become a danger to themselves and others.'

When he looked up, obviously wondering why it was now held that children may _not_ start magic school until after they had turned eleven when it was stated here that they were _required_ to begin school as soon as they started to regularly show their magic, Minerva went on. "I wondered about that as well Tiberius, so I asked a family friend who is a solicitor to look into it for me. Apparently, it was pushed through at Albus Dumbledore's request soon after he became Headmaster at Hogwarts. I would have asked him why he would put through a rule that was in direct contravention of the Hogwarts Charter, which as _we_ all know overrules any and all subsequent rules, but as we have been discussing, he has become increasing erratic and contentious over the past month or two and quite frankly I regarded it as too dangerous. On top of that, from his actions tonight, I have come to believe that he has not even read the Hogwarts Charter, even though the Headmaster or Headmistress' oath states that he or she will uphold all the requirements of the Hogwarts Charter, as does the Deputy Headmaster or Headmistress' oath."

Tiberius nodded, but looked confused. "But how did you learn of this Cyrus, I understand that you observe the old rules, but surely this was far from obvious?"

Amelia's sharp eyes saw a calculating look flash across Cyrus' face as he considered how to answer that, and she was surprised when he basically told Tiberius the truth. "Lucius Malfoy has been pressuring Edessa and I to enter both Daphne and Astoria into betrothal contracts with his son Draco Tiberius. We neither trust nor care for Malfoy at all and have seen nothing to indicate that his son will shape up to be any different from his father…." He glanced at Angela, Sirius, Amelia and Augusta and they nodded, seeing where he was going with this. "Then a few weeks ago, we were called to Gringotts for James and Lily Potter's will reading…."

Tiberius cut in at that point. "But those wills were sealed by the Wizengamot! It was illegal to read them!"

It was Amelia who came back at that quite vehemently. " _ **NO!**_ The illegal action was Dumbledore's! He falsified the evidence to seal the Potters' wills in order to allow him to do what he liked with their son and votes!"

Griselda put her hand on Amelia's arm to calm her and explained. "I'm sorry Tiberius, but when you see what happened to James and Lily Potter's son because of that man's self serving machinations I can assure you that you will be furious as well. Albus Dumbledore witnessed both of their wills, and he had them sealed because they interfered with _his_ plans for their son. Harry was almost murdered by those Muggles he left the boy with, after the Potters had both been quite specific in their wills that he was _never_ to go anywhere near them! Sirius Black was also sent straight to Azkaban without a trial on the basis that he was the Potter's secret keeper, but the fact that Pettigrew was the secret keeper was _also_ listed in both their wills that Dumbledore witnessed, along with the fact that Dumbledore had cast the fidelius charm himself so he knew damned well who the secret keeper was! Albus Dumbledore sealed those wills to cover up his own criminal acts and plans, and to profit from unlawfully taking control of the Potters' votes and assets."

"But why hasn't he been arrested if he has done all of this?"

"Because the only things we can _prove_ at this point are that what he said about the secret keeper and the reasons he gave to seal their wills and assume guardianship of Harry were false, and unfortunately we've probably helped give him an excuse for that with the approach we've taken, but it was considered more important to address the bigger risk of Voldemort, snaring Dumbledore's pet Death Eater in the process was just a bonus. We will address those other matters in due time, but for now you have interrupted Cyrus, I believe we should let him finish."

Tiberius nodded and apologised to Cyrus, asking him to continue.

"As I was saying, we were called to Gringotts for the will reading, and after the initial shock of seeing Harry alive and well, we were shown some truly terrible things, one of the things you'll see later is the report from the healers at Saint Mungo's who Harry was brought to after that Muggle almost killed him… and you will be shocked and appalled about what that poor boy had done to him repeatedly, by wizards as well as those Muggles! His magic had been repeatedly bound so much that it couldn't heal him and he had a foul abomination of a…. well call it a curse... placed on him that would have killed him as well. The healers at Saint Mungo's managed to prevent him dying when he arrived, but that was the limit of what they could do for him, _they_ couldn't save him as that abomination and those bindings were too much for anyone in our world to fix, so they did the only thing they could to save him, they called the goblins."

Tiberius started to react to that but Angela cut him off. "Those healers ruined themselves to do the _only_ thing they could to keep our Harry alive, and we will be eternally grateful to them! Their careers were finished because other people _suspected_ what they _might_ have done, and censored them without any proof whatsoever, so they're not at Saint Mungo's any more!"

Sirius put his arms around her to comfort her and Cyrus took up the tale again. "Angela and Sirius are Harry's Godparents and guardians Tiberius, and they would have been his guardians ten years ago if Dumbledore hadn't illegally sealed the Potters' wills. So the _goblins_ managed to remove the abomination from him and peel away all those layers of bindings on his intellect and magic, and then spent a week feeding him potions to rebuild his body and rectify the ravages of the abuse and malnutrition he'd suffered for the past ten years. When he was whole and well, the Potter Account Manager convinced him to accept his House rings and the Black Heir's ring so that he'd be stronger and better prepared for what's coming at him. Once he'd done that, Harry asked the Account Manager to arrange for the will reading with the original copies of the wills that the family knowledge had told him would be held here at Gringotts, so that was why we were called in for the reading."

"Aside from all the terrible things that were done to Harry, some very interesting things came out of the will reading, and that convinced us that _all_ our children were at risk from what was going on, so we used the laws for male and female line betrothal contracts to protect our children and our houses from machinations of the likes of Malfoy, and Dumbledore." He nodded at the look Tiberius gave him "Yes, _Dumbledore_ , you see one of the things we discovered when the goblins presented everything to do with the wills was that Albus Dumbledore and Molly Weasley had signed an illegal marriage contract between Harry and Molly's daughter Ginevra when they were six and five respectively, which stated that upon their marriage, Molly Weasley would have _full_ control of everything to do with the Potter fortune until he reached the age of twenty four because he had no other family to manage and protect his fortune for him. We have informed Arthur Weasley of this and other matters that we have discovered in regard to his family and Arthur is doing his best to make retribution, even though Harry has made it clear that he does not hold Arthur responsible for any of what his wife has done. Arthur had another burden placed on him tonight though because both Percy and Ronald Weasley were stripped of their magic and expelled from Hogwarts for attacking Harry and a number of other Heads and Heirs of Most Ancient Houses on the Hogwarts Express…. Arthur is a good man, he doesn't deserve any of this."

"Sorry, I have gotten off track with the story. When we were making arrangements for our children who were to be starting Hogwarts today and confirming what rights could be claimed to ensure their safety at Hogwarts, we discovered that rule about when children are actually required to begin their magical education, so as both Astoria and Xeno Lovegood's daughter Luna have both been displaying magic since they were four or five years old and they would be safer there, where they can be protected by what we've put in place for the others, we enrolled them as well. If Dumbledore had been doing his duty as the Headmaster he would have seen their names on the new student lists, but he only seems to pay attention to those things he believes will add to his own fame, fortune, power and glory, so it passed him by. Well that's the story behind Astoria being at Hogwarts, but what Amelia wanted to discuss in regard to dealing with what Dumbledore is doing is more important…. Amelia?"

* * *

"Thank you Cyrus. Well Cyrus has filled in the background of what we're doing quite well Tiberius, but as he said, Dumbledore is the biggest problem. We _know_ that what Dumbledore is doing for his own ends is quite likely to destroy our children and our world if we do not stop him, but as Griselda said we don't have enough proof of his criminal acts to stop him that way. We _do_ however have the evidence to show that he's incompetent to carry out the duties of the positions he holds, and _that's_ our best hope of limiting the damage that he's doing _quite_ wilfully. We can show that he's been doing much of this for over ten years so none of it is an innocent once off mistake as he will try to claim. As you said yourself Tiberius, we simply cannot have someone holding the position of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and directing the primary legal decisions for Magical Britain who is wilfully ignorant of the laws of Magical Britain, and who has also been proven to make decisions in favour of his own personal gain over what is legally required…."

"Therefore I have scheduled the trial of Dumbledore's pet Death Eater in tomorrow morning's Wizengamot session. Dumbledore's connection with him is ample cause to force him to recuse himself as the Chief Warlock for the session, so once the session is started, I will add an extra item to call for Dumbledore to be removed from the position of Chief Wizard, and inform the ICW that as he no longer represents the Wizengamot of Magical Britain he is also ineligible to retain the position of Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. That's where we can use the existing evidence to show that he is unfit to hold the position of Chief Wizard. What we have may not be enough to uphold criminal charges against him, but it _is_ enough to show that he is incompetent to act in that position, and as you've seen, we have evidence that should be sufficient to convince most of the Wizengamot that he is losing his faculties too. There is much more that needs to be done in regard to Dumbledore, but the Chief Warlock's position is where he can do the most damage to Magical Britain, and therefore the most urgent one to get him out of."

"This what we wanted to talk to you about Tiberius. We will need to vote in a suitable replacement immediately if we are to limit the damage from Dumbledore's actions. You and Griselda are the most senior members of the Wizengamot and are among the few that we regard as having the integrity and impartiality needed to honour the requirements of the position. As we have told Griselda, we are _not_ trying to get you to promote _our_ interests, we have come to the two of you because we are confident that you will uphold the laws and best interests of Magical Britain _no matter what_ , and _that_ is what we are asking of you! So... what we are asking for here is that the two of you to decide between yourselves, which of you we will be nominating and supporting in the vote for the next Chief Witch or Warlock, and the order there was nothing more than 'Ladies First' Tiberius."

Tiberius shook his head. "This is a noble endeavour and you do indeed have my support, but what makes you think that you can get enough votes to get one of us through?"

Amelia looked at the others and they nodded. "One of the interesting things that Cyrus mentioned our discovering was that between us, we hold all twenty of the Most Ancient Houses, and they're _all_ active and registered with the Wizengamot. We have well over a dozen more Noble and Ancient and Ancient Druid houses, including the Noble and Ancient House of Flamel..."

Tiberius looked at John at that, as he knew that John was the Steward of the House of Flamel, _and_ that it was one of the richest and most powerful Houses in Magical Britain, and John nodded. Tiberius looked back at Amelia, and she continued.

"and a couple more Noble Houses as well, plus the fact that Sirius and Harry have taken a few Houses worth of votes from Dark Houses, and that anyone blindly supporting Dumbledore like Elphias Doge will have been discredited by then by the evidence shown. So even if we don't have others voting with us, we hold nearly half of the votes and that will almost certainly be enough to get whichever of you it is who accepts the nomination voted in."

Tiberius shook his head again, but it was more in awe this time. "How did you get all of the Most Ancient Houses? I thought that they were lost except for half a dozen or so?"

"Apparently another eight or nine were being kept hidden as family secrets until needed, and the others reappeared in this generation… That is why you cannot remember Severus Snape's family name by the way, because Harry invoked Most Ancient House Law to eliminate the Minor House of Snape and Noble House of Prince in Magical Britain, so the name of Snape no longer exists in Magical Britain…. most of us believe that the Fates are taking a hand in this from what we've seen, but the point is that if we go in there with a plan we will almost certainly get one of you in, so who will it be?"

Once they got over the shock of hearing that Most Ancient House Law had been invoked again and Minerva confirming it, Tiberius and Griselda looked at each other and he said. "I believe that it should be you Griselda, you understand the matters at hand better than me."

"Are you sure Tiberius? I know that you have wanted to be Chief Warlock for a long time."

He nodded. "Yes, as I said, you have a better understanding of the issues in front of us and we are in more perilous times than I for one realised... it is not the time to indulge an old man's vanity."

Griselda smiled fondly at him. "You are a good man Tiberius but…. perhaps we can arrange for me to nominate you to share the position?" she looked at the others as she fleshed out this idea. "Once I'm voted in, the evidence on Dumbledore should be quite enough to present a good case that checks and balances should be in place to prevent any one witch or wizard controlling the Wizengamot in case they fail Magical Britain the way that Dumbledore has… just off the top of my head, I can think of at least two or three _other_ Chief Witches and Chief Warlocks whose actions could be used to support that too. We can easily argue that the role should be shared between two Chief Witches or Warlocks, with both of them presiding over any major issues to ensure that they aren't decided by any one witch or wizard's whims, but either of them could preside over ordinary sessions, and _I_ will nominate Tiberius as the most qualified to share the role, stipulating my reasons for nominating him and asking for other nominations, then call for a vote, and we can use the votes of the Most Ancient Houses to ensure that Tiberius gets voted in..."

They were all nodding at that, because this was a very sensible move, as well as the right thing to do. This would also make it more difficult for the factions to manipulate circumstances to get one of their people made Acting Chief Witch or Warlock to push through something that they wanted, which had happened more than a few times in the history of the Wizengamot, because at least _one_ of the Chief Witches or Warlocks would generally be available.

Tiberius nodded with a smile. "I would like that Griselda, thank you, and I quite agree that what you've described would be in the best interests of Magical Britain…." but he stopped as something else dawned on him and he turned to Amelia. "If you have _all_ of the Most Ancient Houses, then you have all four of the Hogwarts' Founders' Houses! Surely no-one was hiding _them_ , they could have addressed all those issues at Hogwarts."

Griselda looked at Amelia too and she shook her head. "Only one of the Founders' Houses was known before Tiberius, and by itself that wasn't enough to take control of Hogwarts, the other three only reappeared in this generation, but that is why we are less worried about Hogwarts than the Chief Warlock's position at the moment, because Hogwarts has made it clear that she will support the Founders' Heirs, so even if we couldn't control the Governors' Board, we can control what happens at the school directly. Mind you, that is another thing we will be asking the Headmaster tomorrow, what he is doing to replace the Potions and Defence against the Dark Arts masters he lost tonight. Professor McGonagall asked him in front of everyone but he didn't respond, he just stormed out."

That got a feral grin from Griselda, because if Dumbledore wilfully failed to provide adequate instruction for the students, she'd have cause to nail him to the wall no matter how many supporters he had…. though she was willing to wager that there'd be a lot fewer of those after tomorrow.

With that, they confirmed the plan for the following day. Amelia had Snape's trial on the docket, if Dumbledore turned up, which they expected he would because Doge and Macmillan would have gone running to him the night before, they'd force him to recuse himself and Tiberius would preside as Acting Chief Warlock. Once they'd _officially_ stripped Snape of everything he had including his name and used the accumulated evidence against him to ensure that he never taught in Britain again if he was ever released from Azkaban, they'd use the evidence about Dumbledore to present a case to show that he was unfit to hold the position of Chief Warlock and have him removed, notifying the ICW to ensure that he lost the position of Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards as well.

* * *

As soon as Minerva and the others left with Amelia, Harry caught Auntie Mona's eye up at the High Table and she nodded, calling an end to the sorting feast and sending the new first year students off to their dormitories with their prefects as acting Deputy Headmistress before Dumbledore could return. She told the Hufflepuff prefects that she would look after Duke Potter's party, and a disillusioned Remus, Efa, Emyr and goblin guards formed up around Harry and the others as they left the Great Hall.

Harry only removed the disillusionment from Merlin when they were in the common room of Corvus Tower, as Hogwarts had named it in honour of the original families of the Potter and Black lines, and he set him on a cabinet under the raven standards that took pride of place on the common room wall. Merlin craned around to look up at the standards and sort of nodded. "Ah yes…. I had forgotten that you were of Morgana's line My Lord, I dare say that is where your power comes from."

That just got a terse nod and a muttered "Part of it, yes." and Merlin shut up when he saw the other elements and Harry asked him to let the matter go over their link. They'd laughed about the fact that the rest of the wizarding world didn't know that Harry had elvan blood through his Druid ancestors who were part _aes sídhe_ , as well as being a Half-Blood, but that was something that they didn't want to come out anywhere that others may hear, and they weren't certain that there were no other ears in their tower yet. Merlin changed the subject and asked Harry's, as Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Emrys, permission to link with Lady Luna as he had with him and Lady Hermione so he could talk with her as well, if she wished to of course.

Harry and Hermione just grinned at each other, as if Luna _wouldn't_ want to! but Harry suggested that Daphne and Astoria be included as well as they were also bonded to him. Merlin was ecstatic about the idea of having more people to talk to so Harry called the girls over as he picked up Merlin. Daph and Tori weren't far behind Luna in assuring him that they'd _love_ to be linked to Merlin so that they could talk to him, so Merlin went on each of their heads in turn so he could talk them through the ritual to link with him.

Once that was done, Merlin went back on the cabinet and they went to look around their quarters. Through Merlin Harry thanked Hogwarts for creating these quarters for them, as they were much nicer than any of the school house quarters, with no more than two to a room except for the goblin guards who were six to a room…. but at Hogwarts' prompting Merlin cut off his apology for the fact that they wouldn't be using their bed chambers for anything other than resting places for their trunk flats.

Merlin explained that Lady Hogwarts could see the strength of the wards that they had on their trunks and their rooms, and acknowledged that she could not provide anything to match them, especially with the Headmaster having the ability to order her to make changes to her wards.

With that out of the way, they said their good nights and headed for their respective trunk flats, because for all their age on the inside, Harry and Hermione's bodies were still only eleven like the others' (well Luna was ten and Tori was nine) so the eventful day had taken a lot out of them.

What Merlin had said about Dumbledore being able to order Hogwarts to change her wards made Harry go back to get him to take him into his trunk flat and leave him in his common room though, and he made a note to see about using the outer layer of their trunks' wards to encompass the entire tower. Efa, Emyr and the others could handle the cleaning without trouble and he knew that Efa and Emyr would agree that having their tower secure was more important than a little extra work.

Most of them had been living in their trunk flats for three weeks now, with the changes and enhancements being added to the existing trunks, so they felt like home, wherever they were, which helped them get a good rest inside the flats. Hermione was sharing with Luna, Daph with Tori, Efa and Emyr with Dobby and of course Angela with Sirius. Dora was sharing with Sue and Mary and Alastor and Remus were sharing with Nev, Tommy and Missy (Mary, Tommy and Missy were Bones, Moody and Longbottom house-elfs), Ulfr and Snorri were sharing another trunk flat and the goblin guards were sharing two more. Harry was the only one who wasn't sharing with anyone but Hedwig.

The later developments of the gloos had allowed the trunk flats to be permanently linked, effectively making them into wings of the same house so that it was possible to walk between them as if you were walking through an open doorway. Harry's was permanently linked to Hermione and Luna's, Daph and Tori's, Efa, Emyr and Dobby's and Angela and Sirius'. Dora and Sue's was permanently linked to Alastor, Remus and Nev's, and of course Ulfr and Snorri's was permanently linked to the other goblins' flats, though they also had open gloos to Harry's and Dora and Sue's in case anything went wrong.

* * *

As Dobby was one of the extremely rare House Elves who had enough independence and willpower to throw off the Druids' Bond, they had used the details of the curse in the Slytherin family knowledge to remove all of it from him, and in doing so they discovered why it was so apt to call it an abomination. To ensure dependence on druids and reduce the danger from the common elves or hobgoblins if they ever managed to break the bond, Salazar had incorporated bindings on their intellect, magic and physical strength and development (this last had most probably been intended for the hobgoblins as the elves used magic wherever they could and were physically weaker) and a spell intended to drain away their magic over time so that they had to keep drawing magic from the witch or wizard they were bonded to through a modified version of the familiars' bond that he'd used to create the Druids' Bond, or they'd fade away and possibly die.

This was the most horrendous part of what Salazar had created, because the elves naturally had the same longevity as hobgoblins, roughly twice that of the average magical human, so it cut centuries off the lives of thousands of elves. While the curse truly was an abomination though, they had to agree that Salazar must have been brilliant to create it. Hermione could see Rowena Ravenclaw's style on some parts of the curse, but the fact that there was nothing in the Ravenclaw family magic about it said that Salazar had managed to get those parts from her without her realising what it was to be used for.

The bindings on the elves' physical development had over successive generations made them smaller and less human looking than they should have been, but once they'd put Dobby through the same process as Harry had gone through to make him what he should have been, he was around four feet tall with more human features and a copper skin tone that made him look tanned. With the bindings on his magic removed, Dobby was also quite powerful, because like Harry he'd been strengthening it by struggling against those bindings all his life. Of course, his changed appearance meant that he now had to wear glamours whenever he appeared in front of anyone outside the 'family', just as Efa, Emyr, Ulfr and Snorri did, so they looked like ordinary elves and hobgoblins.

Alastor, Nev and Sue had brought Tommy, Missy and Mary with them to look after them, but none of them were elves who could break the bonds, so all they could do for them without risking harming them was remove the bindings on them, and the spell that was draining their magic. They'd done the same for the rest of the elves bonded to all their families, and they would be doing it for the Hogwarts elves too when they had the opportunity.

* * *

After he had given Hedwig some attention because she was feeling neglected, Harry got ready for bed. He could feel all the familiars (including Mekal) settling down on their mistresses' beds, and could feel Hermione, Luna, Daph and Tori as well, so he wasn't surprised when Luna and Mione came through soon after. Luna had seen her mother killed in an experimental spell accident earlier that year, and she had nightmares about that most nights so ever since they got the trunks with the gloo connections, she had been coming to Harry, Hermione, or more often both of them to be comforted when she had these nightmares. As the girls' links to each other strengthened, Daph and Tori could feel when Luna was upset like this too, and they came through as well if she was more upset than usual, or they felt left out.

As well as the 'general' gloos and the ones forming the permanent links to the other trunks in their common rooms, Harry's and his betrotheds' bedrooms had permanent gloo links to each other. After Luna started coming to Harry and Hermione to be comforted, Efa and Emyr went to Gringott and asked him to add these gloo links without anyone else knowing about them so that the girls could go to Harry when they needed comforting without having to go through the common rooms. They added a control to automatically close the links if the magical signature of anyone but Harry, the girls, Efa or their familiars was in the room, so no-one but them found out about them until Angela came in to check on Harry one morning and found the five of them cuddled up together (Efa had also expanded the bed in Harry's bedroom then so that it was comfortable for the five of them) and they told her about the direct links. They discussed the matter as the 'family' and agreed to keep it a 'family' secret, because _they_ knew it was just innocent comforting, but others may not understand that, especially after the 'talk' and what Amelia had confided to the other adults about her fears about Sue, because they didn't want Sue to get the idea of going to Nev to be 'comforted' on a regular basis in case she took it further (Nev wouldn't initiate anything yet, he was a ways off that).

In the morning, they woke up refreshed when Efa came to get them up (only Efa or Angela did this, to avoid making Hermione or Harry uncomfortable, because while none of them were too worried by either of Harry's two 'mothers' waking them up, it had felt different when Emyr did it, so it was agreed that only Efa and Angela would go into their bedrooms in the mornings), and Hermione joked that they might have to update the enchanted window to show what was outside Hogwarts rather than what was outside Potter Manor, because Efa told them to dress for cold weather as it was raining outside.

* * *

By the time they came out, Minerva was there to fill them in on what had happened the night before, both at the Ministry of Magic and at Hogwarts. The only surprise from the Ministry of Magic was Madam Marchbanks' suggestion about splitting the Chief Witch/Chief Warlock role, and they all agreed that that would be a good idea. The news from Hogwarts was less pleasing, because when Minerva returned from the Ministry, Dumbledore had been waiting for her in his office (as he only allowed floo travel via the one in his office).

He'd first demanded to know where she'd been and went off when she said that Madam Bones had required her to witness Voldemort being put through the Veil of Death on behalf of Hogwarts, only just managing to keep a straight face when she answered his ranting 'question' about why _he_ wasn't the one requested to be there with the fact that no-one could find him, as Filius had call via the mirrors to let them know that the Gray Lady had come to pass on word from Hogwarts that he had told her to turn away anyone who came to the door or called.

Then he told her to have Gryffindor dormitory beds and class schedules prepared for Harry Potter and Ernest Macmillan, because regardless of what that stupid hat said, Harry Potter _would_ be in Gryffindor, and now that the Weasley boy had gotten himself expelled, the Macmillan boy would have to go with him to be his friend as he needed a friend from a good Pureblood family to set him straight. He shouted her down when she started to say. "But what about Pomona and Lord Macmillan? We can't just take two students from Pomona's house without….."

" _I will inform Professor Sprout of_ _what will happen and if she knows what's good for her she'll do what she's told without arguing!_ And that goes double for you McGonagall! Don't think for a second that I've forgotten the way you blatantly disrespected me in front of all my staff and students! I would have already fired you if there wasn't so much work for you to do to fix the mess that you helped create! If you don't have people organised to take those Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts classes tomorrow you better be packed and ready to leave, because you will be thrown out of Hogwarts so fast that your feet won't touch the ground!"

He cut her off again when she opened her mouth to retort angrily. "Shut up and get out woman! You and everyone else in this school _will_ learn your place or you will be _gone_! What are you waiting for? I told you to get out!"

Minerva spun around to storm out of the office, but as she did so Fawkes caught her eye. Even without a link, she could easily tell that the phoenix was furious, and almost ready to attack this fool who she was supposed to be linked to... Minerva snorted at that, the old fool had supposedly been linked to a phoenix familiar for most of a century but he still referred to her as 'he'? Everyone knew that phoenixes were all female!... everyone who wasn't an idiot anyway. That moment they'd shared and the laugh at Dumbledore had taken the edge off of her fury at the old bastard, so she nodded her thanks to Fawkes, and was more than a little surprised when she returned the nod.

Early that morning she had been rousted out of bed by the old bastard to be threatened with being thrown out again if she didn't have everything he told her to do done by breakfast, but he was needed for an urgent Wizengamot session and he didn't know how long he would be tied up with that. He also told her that she'd need to inform Professor Sprout about Potter and Macmillan transferring to her house and no students were to be allowed to leave Hogwarts for _any_ reason today before storming out.

* * *

They were enraged by what Dumbledore had said to her, but while he was intrigued about what she'd said about Fawkes, something else had piqued Harry's interest even more, so he asked Merlin if he could ask Hogwarts whether Dumbledore had made any floo calls and whether he'd given her any instructions about the floos today. He wasn't too surprised when the answer was that he'd made a fairly long call to Macmillan Manor just before he went to see Professor McGonagall, and then he'd come back and ordered her to reject any attempts for floo connections of any sort in or out unless they from him until he told her otherwise, and to do the same for anyone trying to enter or leave Hogwarts, then he'd got ready and flooed to the Ministry of Magic. Harry could almost see her shaking her head when she said that she couldn't believe the sort of things that wizard asked his magic mirror.

Thinking of Fawkes, Harry asked whether Hogwarts could talk to her and the obviously indignant response was that _of course_ she could! Fawkes' responses to questions about why she remained as a familiar of someone like Dumbledore were a worry, because she was very hesitant when she said that she didn't know why, but she just couldn't leave him, the only thing she was clear on was the fact that while she definitely _wasn't_ his familiar, she was somehow forced to obey him whenever he called on her. This concerned her as much as it did them, so she readily agreed when Harry asked whether she'd let them take her to the goblin healers to see whether the compulsions and curses on her could be removed (the way she was forced to obey him sounded disturbingly similar to the Druids' Bond, so they were worried that he may have somehow found some of Salazar's notes on the Druid's Bond, which in turn made them wonder on the compulsions that he'd put on Merlin, so they took Merlin along too when they took her to Gringotts).

Emyr had popped to Dumbledore's office to bring Fawkes back to Corvus Tower for this discussion with all of them and their familiars, and Harry had been surprised when _Hedwig_ suggested that Fawkes forming a _proper_ familiar bond with Harry may help her resist the pretender's demands (because Hedwig was much like Hermione, she'd resisted sharing her human with his mates and their familiars until _she'd_ judged them worthy of him). Fawkes was intrigued and hopeful about this, because she could see from what was in this human's head that he _was_ worthy of her bond, so with Hermione and the other girls' agreement Fawkes bonded with Harry, then they went to Gringotts.

The goblin mind magic experts quickly confirmed that both Fawkes and Merlin had simpler versions of the Druids' Bond and numerous compulsion charms on them, so the charms and curse were all removed and they were returned to Hogwarts, Merlin to Harry's trunk flat and Fawkes to Dumbledore's office... She'd agreed to stay there to spy on him, because for all his vaunted brilliance, Dumbledore still thought of her as nothing more than a bird with special talents who added to his fame and legend because he was supposedly the only wizard who had been deemed to be worthy of a phoenix familiar's bonding, so he spoke freely around her, in fact he boasted to her about all his plans because he just _had_ to talk about how brilliant he was.

Once Merlin and Fawkes were settled, the rest of them, the rest of the humans anyway, got ready to attend the Wizengamot, because while only the adults could vote, Harry was planning to invoke Most Ancient House Law again, but while he could have theoretically done that with just Sirius, Cyrus, Edessa and Xeno, he wanted Hermione, Luna, Sue and Nev involved, because Hermione had certainly suffered enough at Snape's hand to earn the right to be part of this and Snape was responsible for Nev's parents ending up in St Mungo's so he deserved to see him punished too.

Snape was a Half-Blood who had been raised in the Muggle world, so he theoretically shouldn't be quite so dependent on his magic to survive as the Purebloods were. Harry hoped that he was right about that, because he was planning to use the Most Ancient House Law to strip him of his magic before he left the court room to make sure that the bastard suffered all the more in Azkaban, and if Dumbledore _did_ somehow manage to do the impossible and keep him him out of Azkaban again, he'd be forced back into the Muggle world anyway, because he wouldn't have _any_ magic. Quite aside from everything he'd done to Hermione, him and the rest of their world over the next seven years, that bastard had been the reason his parents were murdered, why he and Sirius had spent the last ten years in the hells of Durskaban and Azkaban and why Nev's parents had spent the last ten years locked in the torment inside their own heads, so he was going to _pay_! Dumbledore had even more to pay for, but their plans for _him_ were going to take a little longer.


	7. Mister Jones

**Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

They had to stifle their laughter as they entered the Wizengamot court room, because even by Dumbledore's normal flamboyant standards, those robes were extremely lurid. The fact that he'd arranged for the session to be moved into the Wizengamot's smallest court room so that he could try to fill the Wizengamot seats with his own supporters was if anything _more_ obvious than those ridiculous robes, but that was answered easily enough.

Griselda swept into the court room and looked around at the packed Wizengamot benches and many more Wizengamot members standing around arguing that they outranked the ones who had taken the seats, and cast a Sonorous. "What is going on here? What idiot had a session which includes the criminal trial of someone who anyone who has had children at Hogwarts in the last ten years will demand to see brought to justice moved into a court room which only holds a quarter of the people that Court Room Ten does, and more to the point does _not_ hold enough Wizengamot seats for a criminal trial?"

Dumbledore blustered, casting his own Sonorous. "Madam Marchbanks! I will thank you to keep a civil tongue in your head! There is nothing on the agenda for this session that cannot be handled in this court room, or by the sitting Wizengamot members. Now as you are obviously not required for this session and have already caused undue disturbance, I will thank you to leave!"

She rounded on him at that. "And what are _you_ doing in the Chief Warlock's seat Mister Dumbledore? You have a known relationship with the accused, in fact you prevented him standing trial for his crimes as a Death Eater twelve years ago, just before you hired him as a professor at Hogwarts as I recall…. Surely you _must_ know that you must recuse yourself as Chief Warlock for this session Mister Dumbledore?"

"Who are you to tell me what I must do? If you will not remove yourself madam I will _have_ you removed! Madam Bones, have Madam Marchbanks removed from the court room immediately!"

"No Mister Dumbledore, Madam Marchbanks is quite right, this court room does _not_ meet the requirements to hold the criminal trial of Severus Snape, and due to your known relationship with Severus Snape, our laws state that you _must_ recuse yourself as Chief Warlock for this session. I am both surprised and disappointed that as the Chief Warlock, you apparently do not understand the laws of Magical Britain that relate to this."

She turned to address the court at large. "If I could have your attention please? This session is being moved to Court Room Ten as this court room is inadequate for the criminal trial that is on the agenda, and due to a conflict of interest, Mister Dumbledore is ineligible to preside as Chief Warlock..." She had to cover up the smile at how well this had played out. "Lord Ogden, to prevent any appearance of a conflict of interest on _Madam Marchbanks_ ' part, seeing as she was the one who pointed out to Mister Dumbledore that _he_ must recuse himself as Chief Warlock, as the only other Wizengamot member present who is as qualified as Madam Marchbanks to preside as Chief Warlock, will you accept the responsibility of serving as Acting Chief Warlock for this session?"

Tiberius bowed. "It would be my honour to serve as Chief Warlock for this session Madam Bones."

And with that, everything was set, the session was in Court Room Ten, which held the entire Wizengamot. Dumbledore had already shown his hand, so all the Wizengamot members present, including his own supporters, had seen him be forcibly removed from the Chief Warlock's position on the basis of the long standing legal requirements which formed the underpinnings of their legal system, which he apparently didn't understand, things weren't going Albus Dumbledore's way at all!

* * *

As soon as they were settled in Court Room Ten, Amelia formally requested that the matter of the trial of Severus Snape be moved up to the first item, as it was obviously a contentious issue, and requested that another item be added to discuss Mister Dumbledore's fitness to serve as Chief Warlock, in view of his apparent ignorance of the laws of Magical Britain in the matter of criminal proceedings and trials. Dumbledore's supporters were up in arms about this, but Tiberius silenced the room and called for a vote on whether to add an item to review Mister Dumbledore's fitness to serve as Chief Warlock, very few were surprised that the vast majority of the Wizengamot voted _for_ it.

When Minister Fudge tried to demand that Chief Warlock Dumbledore preside and Tiberius essentially told him to shut up or leave because he had no authority over the Wizengamot, and in fact he was an agent _of_ the Wizengamot, so they could have him removed from his position…. Albus Dumbledore was starting to get worried about how this session was going. He knew that _he_ was safe from being questioned or charged because he and Millicent Bagnold had quietly slipped through a ruling that guaranteed them immunity from prosecution for anything done while they held the positions of Chief Warlock and Minister for Magic back when she was the Minister. They'd kept it quiet for the day that they'd need it, and it was looking more and more like he was going to need it today.

Amelia carefully worded her request to have the restriction on forcibly using Veritaserum on the accused removed, citing that he was a marked Death Eater with strong evidence of criminal acts against him. She had to fight to cover up her triumphant smile when the actual vote that was passed was that the restriction on forcibly using Veritaserum on the accused did not apply where the accused was a marked Death Eater and there was evidence to show that they had committed criminal acts, because she could see that Malfoy and some of the other Death Eaters on the Wizengamot realising that that ruling actually opened the door to _them_ being forced to be questioned under Veritaserum.

It didn't take long to get plenty of proof to uphold the current charges against Snape, but then Harry stood up. "Madam Bones, Chief Warlock Ogden, when he was shouting at me in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, this man clearly indicated that even ten years after my parents were murdered, he still retained a great deal of anger against my father. Given the fact that he was known to be a Death Eater and involved with some of the people around my family at the time..." he paused and looked at Dumbledore at that "I would like to know whether he had anything to do with my parents' deaths and if so who else was involved and what other events were related to that, and also what other criminal acts he has been involved with, what other Death Eaters he was associated with at the time, and since then… I think that's it, but if we don't find out now, I'll probably never have a chance to find out who was responsible for my parents' murders."

Snape started laughing at that. "You want to know who was responsible for your parents being killed? _You_ were! If you and Longbottom weren't all but named in that prophecy that was given to Dumbledore, the Dark Lord wouldn't have come after you!"

Amelia looked at Tiberius. "From that, it would appear that there is good reason to ask the questions that Duke Potter has requested My Lord Chief Warlock."

Tiberius nodded. "Indeed! Begin the questioning please Madam Bones."

Amelia nodded, but noted Dumbledore and some of the Death Eaters trying to sneak towards the doors, so she barked an order to seal the court. Tiberius looked a question at her and she nodded to Dumbledore and the others. He nodded grimly and picked up the gavel. "No-one but officers of the court is to enter or leave this court room until this matter is concluded. The use of magic is hereby restricted to officers of the court only. So mote it be!" as he banged the gavel, everyone in the court room felt the magical decree wash over them.

They actually had to send for more Veritaserum because they'd used up the supplies in the court room before they'd even finished questioning Snape, and they had over thirty others in custody, awaiting questioning by then. When they finished questioning Snape and sentenced him to life in Azkaban (because in his memories he had always been hiding when the things that could have sent him through the Veil were committed), Dumbledore was amazed to find that a boy over a hundred years his junior could actually terrify him, because Harry was looking straight at him when he stood just before Snape was dragged out, but his words weren't directed at Dumbledore. "Severus Snape's actions took everything from me, so as Duke Henry James Potter, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, I claim the right to take everything from _him_! He forfeited his Houses and everything belonging to him and them last night, but this was _not_ enough to repay my loss, so I, Duke Henry James Potter, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, hereby take the magic of the wizard born as Severus Tobias Snape, _So Mote It Be_!"

Everyone's attention was on Harry, so they didn't note Hermione, Sue, Luna, Sirius, Cyrus, Edessa and Xeno quietly reciting " _So Mote It Be_!", but they noted the magic as this decree was accepted by the court, and saw Snape collapse as his magic was stripped from him, so most of them thought that Harry had done that on his own. After that worrying display of magic in a court room where magic use was supposedly blocked, Harry's parting shot of "I look forward to hearing how you fare with the dementors of Azkaban without any magic…. Snivellous!" chilled many in the room, because the tone wasn't that of a child striking out, it was a _man_ taking vengeance for his family.

* * *

When they started on the others who'd been taken for questioning, another ruling was required to allow the ones who _weren't_ marked Death Eaters to be forcibly questioned under Veritaserum, and Tiberius had to cover up his reaction when a note magically appeared on the bench in front of him. He nodded to himself when he read it though, as this was the best chance to get this through, so he made a show of angrily giving up trying to word the ruling. "This is ridiculous! We're wasting time trying to come up with more and more specific exemptions to allow us to question the accused under Veritaserum, when we should be concentrating on finding out what crimes they have committed against Magical Britain! The _only_ reason for the accused to refuse to be questioned under Veritaserum is _if they are guilty_ of what they are accused of, so I am hereby asking for a ruling that _anyone_ who refuses to be questioned under Veritaserum may be _forcibly_ questioned under Veritaserum, _no-one_ is exempt! What say you, Members of the Wizengamot?"

Once the members of the Most Noble House Alliance had all cast their votes _for_ the ruling, others jumped on the bandwagon, looking to be seen to be on the winning side. It passed with a vast majority of 'for' votes, because the only ones who voted against it were those who couldn't afford to be questioned under Veritaserum, and fifteen of _them_ couldn't vote as they'd already been taken to be questioned.

Another note appeared on the bench in front of Amelia and she quickly used the communications mirror to call Kingsley and have him go to Barty Crouch's home to pick up his supposedly dead son, Barty Crouch Junior, who was currently hiding under a cloak of invisibility and under the effects of an Imperius curse that had been placed on him by his father.

After Barty Crouch, Senior and Junior, were both brought in and questioned under Veritaserum, Barty Junior was sentenced to go through the Veil of Death and Barty Senior was sentenced to life in Azkaban, and Harry stood again. The court room went quiet, half in anticipation, half in dread, so everyone heard as he spoke. "In the name of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom, I, Duke Henry James Potter, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, declare that the Noble and Ancient House of Lestrange and the Minor House of Crouch are to be eradicated in Magical Britain! All holdings, possessions and moneys belonging to the witch formerly known as Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange and Bartemius Crouch Junior, and the Noble and Ancient House of Lestrange and the Minor House of Crouch are hereby forfeit to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom! I also claim the magic of the witch formerly known as Bellatrix Lestrange and Rodolphus Lestrange for Earl Francis Longbottom, Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom, and the magic of Rabastan Lestrange and Bartemius Crouch Junior for Countess Alice Longbottom, Consort of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom. Furthermore, I claim all holdings, possessions and moneys belonging to Bartemius Crouch Senior and the magic of Bartemius Crouch Senior for Duke Sirius Orion Black, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, _So Mote It Be_!"

Once again, everyone was focussed on Harry, so few heard the others repeat " _So Mote It Be_!", but they felt the magical decree and saw the Crouches collapse as their magic was stripped from them. The Aurors picked both of them up and carried them out, Barty Senior was taken to the healers before he was sent to Azkaban like Severus had been, but Barty Junior was taken straight to the Chamber of Death to be put through the veil as there was no sense in wasting the Healers' time and energy on him.

It took a while to get through the thirty three others who were taken on the basis of Snape's testimony, and the other twenty eight who were taken on the basis of _their_ testimonies under Veritaserum, but they all either went through the Veil of Death or to Azkaban. Most of their houses were eradicated, as very few had anyone who was regarded as truly 'innocent' in them, and they all lost most, if not all of their holdings, possessions, money and magic. Over two thirds of them were from the 'Dark' Houses, but the 'Light' Houses lost quite a bit too, and while they tried to allocate what they took from them to their victims where possible the 'family' and their Houses gained quite a bit from the houses that had attacked them in the wars, so they'd gained at least three or four times as many votes as they'd expected, and with the other sides losing those votes, the impact was all the greater.

More than a few of the ones sentenced to Azkaban didn't make it there, because they couldn't survive without their magic, and several of the ones at Azkaban who Harry took their magic from died on the spot as well, though word of that didn't come through until a few days later.

* * *

Dumbledore had to play his trump card after they'd gone through all those taken for questioning because Amelia called him to the chair to answer questions about his part in the crimes that they had heard testimony on. Few bothered trying to rebuke Amelia for the language that she came out with when it was confirmed that neither the Chief Warlock nor the Minister for Magic could be prosecuted for or be required to answer questions regarding any acts committed while they held those positions, because most of them were on the verge of saying the same thing.

Sirius was infuriated by the smug look on Dumbledore's face when it was confirmed that they couldn't charge him, and he shot to his feet. "While we may not be able to _prosecute_ the Chief Warlock for his acts, we _can_ call him to answer for them, and replace him if he will not!"

Amelia looked chagrined, as _she_ should have been the one who raised that, and spoke up. "Indeed! As we have already added an item in this session to address that very matter, I request that we do so now!" Tiberius looked at the Wizengamot members and majority voted 'yes', so Amelia presented the evidence they were going to use against Dumbledore, and referred to the testimonies that they'd just heard.

Tiberius didn't waste any time and called for the vote to dismiss Albus Dumbledore from the position of Chief Warlock and notify the ICW that, as he no longer represented the Wizengamot of Magical Britain, he no longer qualified to hold any roles on the ICW. Elphias Doge, Lord Macmillan and other Dumbledore supporters of course argued that they couldn't dismiss him because none of the accusations against him had been proven.

The brighter ones shut up when Amelia answered with a feral grin. "All Mister Dumbledore has to do to disprove what he is claimed to have done is to willingly submit to being questioned under Veritaserum. As Lord Ogden quite rightly said earlier, the only ones who need to fear being questioned under Veritaserum are those who are guilty…. So Mister Dumbledore, will you willingly submit to being questioned under Veritaserum?"

If looks could kill, Amelia would have dropped dead at that point, but as it was, she just chuckled at the glare he gave her, chuckling louder when he responded. "I refuse to have any part in this farce! It is not a legal trial and therefore nothing coming from it is legal!"

Tiberius nodded. "Seeing as Mister Dumbledore has again refused to answer any questions in regard to the matter, we will proceed with the vote to dismiss Albus Dumbledore from the position of Chief Warlock and notify the ICW that, as he no longer represents the Wizengamot of Magical Britain, he is no longer qualified to hold any positions on the ICW."

The only ones who voted against Dumbledore's dismissal were his supporters, and once it was voted in, Amelia raised the fact that they needed to replace him immediately to minimise the disruption to Magical Britain. As Acting Chief Warlock, Tiberius agreed and called for nominations for the position of Chief Witch or Warlock. Augusta jumped in and nominated Countess Griselda Marchbanks, apologising to Tiberius and listing her reasons for considering Griselda to be _slightly_ more qualified for the position. None missed the fact that he agreed with those reasons and said that on that basis, Madam Marchbanks would be his choice as well, _or_ that he refused to accept a nomination because of that. Macmillan nominated Doge, as a senior member of the Wizengamot, and objected to Sirius' none too quiet comment that of _course_ Doge was a senior member of the Wizengamot, because he'd been following Dumbledore around like his shadow ever since Dumbledore joined. Quite a few laughed out loud when Fudge nominated _himself_ for Chief Warlock, but Tiberius quietened them down and said that everyone had the right to be nominated, even if they only got one vote, and asked whether there were any more nominations.

When there were no more, he called for the vote, but he went against procedure by asking the Court Scribe to advise how many votes each candidate had received, instead of just announcing who had been voted in. Some queried this and he explained that he wished to determine whether they would have to deal with friction in the Wizengamot because of a perception on some members' parts that their candidate had been _cheated_ , because they had only just lost out to the one who was voted in. Most people in the court room laughed when it was announced that Fudge received _one_ vote (his own obviously), but Dumbledore jumped up and claimed tampering when it was announced that Elphias Doge had only received seventeen votes.

When Tiberius asked on what basis he was claiming tampering, he said that most of Elphias' supporters votes had obviously gone to Madam Marchbanks, and that could only have happened if the system was tampered with, so Tiberius called for a vote on the question. "Does any member of the Wizengamot have any reason to believe that their vote was not recorded as they voted?"

There was only one 'yes' vote, and Dumbledore confirmed who that was by jumping out and shouting. "Of course it wasn't! _I_ hold the proxies for the Houses of Potter and Flamel and I cast them for Elphias, so it is _obvious_ that someone has somehow tampered with the Wizengamot's voting system!"

He didn't appreciate it at all when Harry burst out laughing at that. "Why would you ever think that _you_ hold the voting proxies for the House of Potter old man? It is my guardian who holds the voting proxies for my house..." He gave Dumbledore the chance to get out. "Yes, that is correct, I hold them as..." before he went on. "Duchess Angela Susan Black, Regent for the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter!"

Dumbledore just stared at him, stunned, because even knowing that Harry had taken his titles three weeks ago, he'd just presumed that he was still the brat's guardian and had held onto those voting proxies, but Harry hadn't finished yet, as he turned to John de Greystoke. "Lord Greystoke, it is my understanding that you are in fact the Steward for the Noble and Ancient House of Flamel?" John just nodded, trying not to laugh. "I apologise for prying into your houses' affairs Lord Greystoke, but can you shed any light on Mister Dumbledore's claims to holding the voting proxies for the House of Flamel?"

John shook his head. "I _should_ be getting permission from the new Earl Flamel before I divulge any information in regard to his house's affairs Duke Potter, but in view of the situation we find ourselves in here, I must hope that he will forgive me. No. Mister Dumbledore does _not_ hold the voting proxies for the Noble and Ancient House of Flamel. _I_ hold them, as Steward for the Noble and Ancient House of Flamel."

Tiberius decided to twist the knife a little more. "Scribe, which candidate did the votes that Mister Dumbledore cast actually go to?"

The Court Scribe spent a few minutes trying to find the answer to that, then he looked up in confusion. " _None_ , My Lord Chief Warlock, Mister Dumbledore cast his vote, but he actually had no votes to cast because he is nothing but Head of the Dumbledore Family, which has no votes associated with it."

Tiberius frowned at Dumbledore. "Why are you wasting the Wizengamot's time like this _Mister_ Dumbledore? Your casting of a null vote qualifies as interference with the Wizengamot and even if you had immunity from prosecution _before_ as the Chief Warlock, you do not now! Leave the Wizengamot benches and join the rest of the general public in the galleries!"

When Dumbledore just glared at him, Tiberius roared. _" **NOW!** " _and he hastily scrabbled across to the galleries, changing direction at the last moment as he saw the glares coming at him from the group of Hogwarts students and their parents he was heading for.

Tiberius tersely asked if there were any more questions, and when everyone shook their heads he called for Countess Griselda Marchbanks to take the oath to formally accept the position of Chief Witch. Once she'd taken the Chief Witch's seat, Griselda looked at the Wizengamot members and asked whether they had all heard the oath that she'd just taken as Chief Witch to uphold all the laws of Magical Britain? When they all indicated that they had, she launched into the case that she'd outlined the night before, using Dumbledore's and half a dozen of the previous Chief Witches and Chief Warlocks' actions to show that the authority and responsibility of the role was too much to entrust to one Witch or Warlock, as these others had proven. She had them eating out of her hand and they voted in the motion to have the role split so that it was shared by two Chief Witches or Warlocks in by an overwhelming majority, so she immediately nominated Baron Tiberius Ogden as the other Chief Warlock, citing Augusta's nomination of _her_ to show that she was only _marginally_ more qualified than he was, even if you accepted the arguments that were made for her superior qualifications and then called for other nominations, only Doge was nominated this time, and he received even less votes than he did when he was up against her. She called Tiberius up to take the Chief Warlock's oath and a second seat was created for him at the bench with her.

* * *

When Griselda went to order the court unsealed though, Harry stood again. "Albus Dumbledore! While you may have immunity from prosecution for your actions under the laws of the _Wizengamot_ , you have _no_ immunity under the _Most Ancient House Laws_ of Magical Britain! Ample proof has been heard here of your crimes against the Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Potter and Black, the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom and countless other Houses and Families. As your brother Aberforth is innocent of your crimes, we shall not penalise the Dumbledore Family, instead we order that Albus Dumbledore be cast out of the Dumbledore Family, leaving Aberforth Dumbledore as the Head and sole member of the Dumbledore Family. We also order that any and all property, artefacts, heirlooms, moneys and other belongings unlawfully taken or held by Albus Dumbledore shall be _immediately_ returned to their rightful owners, along with any and all moneys earned from any property or belongings that were not rightfully in his possession and that Albus Dumbledore be made to work without pay for Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry until such a time as his salary has repaid any and all moneys that he is unable to repay at this time."

"From this point on, Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall must authorise any and all payments and decisions made by Albus Dumbledore in the position of Headmaster at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, and any and all unnecessary fripperies purchased by Albus Dumbledore with Hogwarts funds such as golden thrones, perches and plates is to be sold for the best possible price and the money returned to Hogwarts' vaults to cover school operating costs and any and all salaries paid to anything other than legitimate corporeal employees will be recovered and returned to the Hogwarts vaults. Discriminatory school fee scales that were authorised by Albus Dumbledore as Headmaster are also revoked as of this moment and charges or rebates as required will be made in regard to the current school year. From this moment on, Albus Dumbledore may _n_ _ever_ be alone with any students of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, or any other minors. Albus Dumbledore's magical signature will be monitored and any and all compulsions, coercions and memory charms cast by Albus Dumbledore from this moment on will be investigated and punished to the full extent of the law…." He paused as he tried to work out what he'd missed. "And half of Albus Dumbledore's magic shall be forfeit to Duke Henry James Potter, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter in reparation for his actions against Duke Potter! _So Mote It Be_!"

The others repeated " _So Mote It Be_!" and everyone in the court room felt the magical decree being accepted and Dumbledore collapsed. At that moment, Fawkes appeared and Dumbledore struggled up to try to grab her as he ordered her to get him out of there. All that got him was a clawed and burnt face, because she attacked him to make him let go and then burst into flames right in front of him. When Dumbledore saw the ashes at his feet and realised that Fawkes hadn't flamed out, that this had been a burning, he dropped to his knees, desperately searching through the ashes for the newborn phoenix that _always_ rose from the ashes, but there was nothing there! The photographers that Xeno had ready for this got some great pictures of the downfall of Albus Dumbledore.

* * *

By the time Albus returned to Hogwarts, his office and quarters had been emptied of all the fabulous treasures that he'd spent nearly a century acquiring by any means necessary. He was despondent about what he'd lost, so he stumbled down to the Great Hall for dinner. Any idea he may have had about this cheering him up though was dashed when he saw that his lovely golden throne was gone, it had been replaced by a wooden chair like every other at the High Table, and the golden plates and cutlery were replaced with pewter and silver.

Seeing McGonagall and Sprout walking in with Potter and his group was the last straw and he leapt to his feet, roaring. "You have the nerve to return here after you betrayed me like that McGonagall? Get out, you're fired! And you will be too if you try to defy me Sprout!"

 _That_ didn't go at all as he'd planned, because McGonagall just laughed at him and turned to Potter. "He doesn't appear to have learned his lesson My Lord. All he has now is what you left him of his magic, perhaps if you took half of what he has left he might get the message?"

Harry agreed with Hermione over their link that this would be a good lesson for everyone here, and when the others nodded too he turned to Albus Jones (as he'd defaulted to his mother's maiden name when he was cast out of the Dumbledore Family). "Albus Jones! As Deputy…." He stopped and gave an evil grin. "No, as _C_ _o-_ _Headmistress_ McGonagall has said, you appear to have failed to learn anything from the the lessons you were given today, so we will have to make the lesson easier for you to understand….." He stopped again to consult with Hermione about the best way to proceed, and then nodded, and somehow projected his voice throughout the Great Hall again. "Under Most Ancient House Laws I, Duke Henry James Potter, order that Professor Albus Jones and Professor Minerva McGonagall shall share the role of Headmaster and Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, however Headmistress McGonagall shall have overriding authority on _all_ matters. As the Headmaster duties are now being shared and Professor McGonagall has teaching duties, Professor Jones shall take up the role of the recently departed Professor Quirrell as Hogwarts' Defence Against the Dark Arts master, effective immediately. Professor Jones will from this point on occupy the Defence Against the Dark Arts master's office and quarters, and he will have responsibility for ensuring that Horace Slughorn is _immediately_ engaged as Hogwarts' new Potions master. Professor Binns, Professor Trelawney and the Divination course are all hereby terminated, effective immediately, and it will be Professor Jones' responsibility to deal with terminating Professor Binns and Professor Trelawney. However, Professor McGonagall will have responsibility for securing a new History of Magic master and someone to create and teach a new course to be called Magical Culture. It will also be Professor McGonagall's responsibility to direct the revision of the current Muggle Studies course into a new course called Muggle Culture, which will actually teach the students of Hogwarts about the contemporary Muggle world. As Headmistress McGonagall shall have these additional duties to perform as the Co-Headmistress, effective immediately, Professor Pomona Sprout shall become Hogwarts' Deputy Headmistress. _So Mote It Be!_ "

Hermione, Sue, Luna and Sirius all repeated " _So Mote It Be!"_ and everyone in the Great Hall felt the magic accepting the decree. Harry gave the old man an evil smile. "Have you learnt your lesson _now_ Professor Jones?"

Albus just spluttered. "You can't do this to me! This is _my_ school!"

* * *

Harry sent a request to Merlin over their link and a minute or so later the four School House Ghosts wafted into the Great Hall. Harry bowed to the Gray Lady and the others in turn. "Greetings My Lady Helena... Sir Nicholas... My Lord Solomon... Friar Barnabus…. I thank you for coming in answer to my plea."

Most of the people in the Great Hall were shocked when the House Ghosts curtsied or bowed in return, and those close enough to see the look of amusement on the Gray Lady's face even more so.

"Not at all My Lord, we are ever at the bidding of the Council, and especially the Heirs. How may we help you My Lord?"

"Professor Jones here appears to be confused Lady Helena, as he is apparently under the impression that Hogwarts is _his_ school."

"Why are you referring to this man as Professor Jones My Lord, is this not Headmaster Dumbledore?"

Sir Nicholas leant in, speaking in a stage whisper which the entire Hall heard. "He _was_ My Lady, but the Council was forced to punish him for his transgressions, so he was cast out of the Dumbledore Family and took his mother's family name of Jones. He has also been demoted to Secondary Co-Headmaster while Deputy Headmistress McGonagall has been promoted to Primary Co-Headmistress. Professor Jones is Hogwarts' new Defence Against the Dark Arts master and has been moved into the Defence Against the Dark Arts master's office and quarters."

The Gray Lady curtsied to Harry again, apologising. "Oh I am so sorry My Lord, I do not know how I could have missed so much going on at Hogwarts!" but those close enough to see her expression could see that she was still quite amused.

Harry bowed to her again. "Think nothing of it Lady Helena, these changes only happened in the last hour or so, but I was hoping that you and the other House representatives may be able to help convince Professor Jones here that this is quite real, and that Hogwarts is _not_ his school, so that we can go forward with all the work that must be done to return Hogwarts to her former glory."

Lady Helena curtsied yet again, murmuring "Surely, My Lord" as she and the other House Ghosts wafted past to surround Albus Jones.

* * *

Harry and Hermione stepped to Minerva's side and cast a muffling spell around them. "I'm sorry Auntie Minnie, I realise that this wasn't really what you had in mind, but it's what came to me when I was trying to punish the old fool and get some use out of him. Thinking of the failures he brought in for DADA, other than Uncle Remus, and Barty Junior actually, made me decide to make _him_ the DADA Professor. Slughorn's a creepy old bastard but from what I remember and remember hearing about him, he was a damned good Potions master?"

Minerva nodded. "Binns is a bad joke and he's ensured that at least two or three generations of Hogwarts students haven't properly learned the History of Magic... for the good of the students _and_ Hogwarts, he _had_ to go."

Minerva nodded again "Trelawney and the subject of Divination is something that we heard quite a bit from you about over the next four or five years. She's only here because she gave Dumbledore, and therefore Riddle, the prophecy that destroyed my and Neville's families. As we've discussed with the centaurs….."

Harry stopped and looked at Hermione. " _Arago_ _g_ _!_ We have to get him and his children out of the Forbidden Forest and Magical Britain… if they won't leave we'll have to wipe them out." Hermione nodded and Harry turned back to Minerva.

"Sorry Auntie Minnie, I just remembered about the Acromantula colony in the Forbidden Forest..."

She shrieked _"_ ** _THE_** _ **WHAT?** "_

Hermione nodded. "Hagrid found Aragog's egg and raised him when he was a student here..."

Minerva cut her off. "What do you mean _when Hagrid was a student here?_ "

Harry cut in again. "It's a long story Auntie Minnie and I believe one that's better told in private, if that's alright with you?"

Minerva nodded, but she obviously wasn't happy. "Anyway, as the centaurs told us time and again, you can't _learn_ to be a seer, you are or you aren't. Trelawney isn't doing Hogwarts _or_ the students any good, so I decided to get rid of both her and her stupid course. I'm sorry to dump finding someone for the Magical Culture course on you, but I can think of someone who would be perfect for both that _and_ History of Magic…"

He just nodded when Minerva said "Augie?" and continued...

"Yes, because what I'm thinking of isn't Magical Britain for Muggleborns, it's more teaching those born in _both_ the Muggle and Magical worlds about how the political and social structure of Magical Britain works, and the wider Magical world as well for the later years, because most of them obviously don't have a clue. And Muggle Studies, well you've been in the Muggle world enough to know that it's completely useless Auntie Minnie. We need to get someone who is Muggle raised to deliver the Muggle equivalent of the Magical Culture course, and to educate them on _current_ Muggle technology as well. I believe that the current Muggle Studies Professor needs to go immediately because it's urgent that we get the students started on the right track as soon as possible and a traditional Pureblood like him won't be able to change as quick as we need him to, even if he _was_ willing to, which I doubt."

She was just shaking her head at him. "I _could_ point out that I only asked you to give the old fool a slap on the wrist, but you're right Harry, these changes _will_ help get Hogwarts back to her former glory. Now don't forget to remind Pomona that she's the Deputy Headmistress now, though she may box your ears for failing to ask her first."

She and Hermione laughed at the deer in the headlights look on Harry's face as he realised what he'd done, then they dropped the muffling spell and went to do what they had to. Pomona tried to look stern but she broke and laughed at him. "Silly boy, I've been waiting for over a decade that old fool to kick the bucket so that Minerva can become Headmistress and I can take over as her Deputy Headmistress. This isn't exactly what I had in mind, but it's pretty close, so thank you Harry. Don't forget to talk to Filius about why you didn't make him the Deputy Head though, he will understand but it will show your respect if you talk to him about it."

Harry nodded and headed off with a "Thanks Auntie Mona", but got side tracked as he passed Albus Jones, sitting there looking glum and doing nothing.

* * *

"What you you doing sitting here Professor Jones? You've got plenty to be getting on with don't you?"

"You can't order me about boy!"

Harry sighed. "Damn, I was hoping that 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks' was just an adage! Look! You only have two choices here old man…. you can get moving quick smart and do the tasks you've been given as _Professor_ Jones, or you can walk straight out that door as _Mister_ Jones, the squib, or more likely a Muggle because you're pissing me off so I'm inclined to just take _all_ your magic…. Of course, if you make me do _that_ , at your age you probably won't live long enough to reach the door. So what is it to be, Professor Jones…. or _Mister_ Jones?"

Albus looked at this boy, who he was finally coming to understand held his very life in his hands, with fear and loathing. He was also wondering how he hadn't seen that this was truly Lily Evans' son until now…. James Potter had had the reputation for being formidable, but those who knew them had said that Lily was the more ruthless one when it was absolutely necessary.

When he didn't respond Harry growled " _Well?_ " in a menacing voice.

" _Professor Jones! Professor Jones!_ "

"Right, you've only got until tomorrow morning to complete your three tasks and have tomorrow's Defence lessons ready so you better get moving! Seeing as Potions has to be ready to go by tomorrow morning _too_ , I'd suggest you get your arse moving and get Professor Slughorn on-board first…. Just remember though, the _only_ one bound by any promises you make to him is _you_ … Not Professor McGonagall, not me, not Hogwarts, _you_! And before he goes near any of our students, make damned sure that he understands that the rule about _never_ being alone with any students that applies to you applies for him as well! _and_ that we'll be doing random tests of his students to ensure none of them have been given any potions for that matter. You probably shouldn't tell him about that until you have him locked in though, because if he isn't here, ready for class, tomorrow morning, you _will_ be Mister Jones. Do you understand _Professor_ Jones, or do I need to repeat myself?"

Albus stared at him in horror, but just as Harry went to ask him again, he blurted out. "No! I mean yes, I understand and No, you don't need to repeat yourself!"

Harry looked at him for another minute and nodded. "Good, now go!"

At that, Albus scurried out as quick as his tired old legs would carry him.

* * *

After watching after him until he was out of the Great Hall Harry went to do what he'd come for. "Uncle Fili! I'm sorry, Auntie Minnie had to remind me that I hadn't talked to you or Auntie Mona about why I made her Deputy Headmistress rather than you, I mean..." Filius laughed. "Yes Harry, I know what you mean."

"I hope you know that it doesn't mean that I respect you any less than Auntie Mona, it was just the problems we'd _all_ have with the Pureblood bigots, like Dad said about being my guardian..."

He hesitated and then cast a muffling spell and switched to Goblin, because he knew from Uncle Gringott that Uncle Fili hadn't abandoned his roots. " _I don't know whether Dad ever mentioned t_ _his, or even knew_ _about it_ _Uncle Fili_ _, but he had_ _ _aes sídhe blood, both__ _ _Tuath Dé__ _and_ _ _Fomoiri.__ _ _S__ _o did Mum_ _but I_ ** _know_** _that_ _she didn't know about it,_ _and_ _so do I_ _of course…._ _Uncle Gringott also did the blood adoption ritual with me to allow the Goblin Nation to support me_ _, so I have Thane blood_ _as well_ _now._ _So they'd_ _call_ ** _me_** _a Half-Breed too_ _if they knew_ _._ "

Filius looked surprised, then nodded thoughtfully as if that explained something. " _Yes, Lily and James were always_ _m_ _ore than other witches and wizards,_ _so their_ _being_ _ _aes sídhe__ _ _makes sense… Did Grand Clan Chief Gringott mention that he did the blood adoption with me as well, back when I was a young man and anti-goblin feeling made being part goblin a rather dangerous thing?"__

 _Harry smiled_ _ _"No Uncle Fili, Uncle Gringott just said that you were an exceptional goblin who ha__ _ _s__ _ _n't abandoned his roots.…__ _ _but he **did** make a point of referring to you as 'your Uncle Fili' so I should have picked up on that.__ _ _"__

 _A_ _back handed compliment_ _like that_ _from the leader of the Goblin Nation_ _made Filius throw his head back and laugh._ _ _"What of the others, do they have__ _ _aes sídhe blood__ _ _as well__ _ _Harry__ _ _?"__

" _I'm not certain_ _ _Uncle Fili__ _…. I know that the original three Druid Lords had it, but_ _ _I don't know how many of the High Druids did_ and ___I doubt the Founders did_. __I know_ _Uncle_ _Siri does..._ _I'm sure_ _Mione and Luna_ _do, and_ _Uncle Xeno_ _sees_ _things that others don't so_ _ _I feel_ _that_ _Luna was more likely to have gotten it from him than Auntie Pandora. I do feel that__ _Daph and Tori do, and_ _Auntie Edessa, Auntie Andi_ _and Dora too, but I'm not sure about Uncle Cyrus or Uncle Ted._ _ _.__ _… and I don't get the feeling that Sue and Nev do. Which would make sense if everyone's right about the Fates as that would mean that those of us with_ __aes sídhe blood are bonded to each other by either love or familial bonds.__ "

Filius nodded approvingly. " _You_ _a_ _re a credit to your parents Harry, with both their keen intelligence and their feel for magic. We haven't really had a chance to talk since that first day, but they would have loved to have lived to meet Hermione…. she's just the sort of girl that your mother_ _especially_ _would have wanted you to find._ "

Harry had to explain why he burst out laughing then. "Sorry Uncle Fili, Mione just said that you're making her blush…."

He realised when Filius looked confused that he'd left before they went to get Crookshanks and Hedwig, and Auntie Minnie mustn't have had a chance to tell them.

" _Hermione and I can talk to each other like we can to the familiars and Merlin Uncle Fili…. Auntie Minnie and the others believe that we were bonded before we were sent back, and the Fates gave us the link to make things easier. We're linked to Luna, Daph and Tori too, but it isn't the same, we can feel where and how they are, but we can't talk... not yet anyway, our link with Luna's getting_ _strong_ _er..._ "

"Who is Merlin Harry?"

" _Oh I'm sorry Uncle Fili, I keep forgetting that we haven't had a chance to talk about most of these things yet… You know Merlin as the Sorting Hat… Merlin bonded an image of himself with most of his knowledge and some of his magic into a Mage's hat so that he could continue to serve as an advisor after he was gone, but Merlin's been stuck here doing little more than sort students once a year for the last thousand years, he's in my trunk flat now, with Fawkes._ "

"Fawkes?"

" _Yes, she was never really bonded to Dumbledore, he found some of Salazar Slytherin's early notes for the Druids' Bond that was used to enslave the common elves and he used_ _that_ _to entrap Fawkes into his service…. But she's free now… Well she's free but she'_ _s chosen to_ _enter into a familiar's bond with me."_

Filius threw his head back and laughed again. _"Oh it_ _will_ _be interesting to have you here Harry. I would very much like to talk to Merlin sometime if I could?"_

Harry nodded. _"Of course, he would love to have more people to talk to, he's been rather lonely and starved for conversation for the last seven hundred years at least."_


	8. New Broom

**Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

Once he'd had his talk with Uncle Fili, Harry went back to physically rejoin the conversation Hermione was having with Auntie Minnie.

Even after a month, it remained difficult for Minerva to talk to Harry and Hermione without shaking her head, because Harry's face and Hermione's personality were so much like Lily's, the way they finished each other's sentences was too reminiscent of the Weasley twins (and their uncles for that matter), and taking sage advice and direction from what she still thought of as two children was difficult.

She couldn't argue that Hermione and now Harry were advising though. The ones in the Great Hall would be more receptive to what they needed to hear now, as they'd just seen the 'G _reat Albus Dumbledore_ ' slapped down by one of his students, _and_ that Hogwarts' magic accepted Harry's decrees. So with that, she headed up onto the High Table dais and had Pomona, Filius and Septima join her before she cast a Sonorous.

"Could I have your attention please?…." When everyone shut up and turned to face the dais she continued. "As we are entering a new era for Hogwarts, it is imperative that you all understand the rules and _laws_ that you will be required to abide by while you are at Hogwarts, and you should know that these _laws_ will be enforced _outside_ of Hogwarts as well from now on."

She paused to let that sink in and then went on. "Firstly. _Any_ student attacking other students or members of staff with spells or otherwise except where this is a legitimate part of a class or other sanctioned school activity will be expelled, have their wands snapped and be stripped of their magic, just as Percival and Ronald Weasley were. Furthermore, under the Most Ancient House and House Laws of Magical Britain… which were accepted as law by the Wizards Council and ratified as both immutable and incontrovertible by the Wizengamot when it was created, and again when the Ministry of Magic was created…. the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is _required_ to investigate the incident and prosecute the guilty parties. Where those attacked are significant members of a Most Ancient House, penalties and imprisonment in Azkaban are mandatory and being sent through the Veil of Death is a significant possibility, the Weasleys only escaped this because as their primary victim, Duke Potter pleaded for leniency for them! For ordinary members of a Most Ancient House, and members of Ancient and newer Houses and Families, penalties and imprisonment in Azkaban, or even the Veil of Death still apply, but these are determined by the nature of the offence and the victim. _No-one_ is exempt from these laws, so if anyone is thinking that they can get away with this because they did so in the past, you are sorely mistaken! Severe penalties will almost certainly be applied on your Houses, and Azkaban or the Veil of Death may well be your future! _So Mote it Be!_ "

Once again, she paused to let that sink in as they all felt the veracity of the decree being accepted by the magic of Hogwarts, then continued. "Another aspect of the Most Ancient House and House Laws of Magical Britain which is treated even more seriously is Line Theft! Where the Most Ancient Houses are concerned, the penalty for sexual assault, the use of love, Lust or loyalty potions or compulsion, coercion or memory charms in an attempt to take control of the Head or Heir of the House is to have their wands snapped, be stripped of their magic and their Houses will forfeit everything they own and be eradicated before being put through the Veil of Death! For other members of the Most Ancient Houses, and members of the Ancient and newer Houses and Families, the guilty will have their wands snapped and be stripped of their magic, but who the victim is and the nature of the attack, whether it was planned or spontaneous and whether the crime was committed singly or by multiple attackers will determine whether the primary punishment is the Veil of Death, life in Azkaban or a lesser term in Azkaban and whether the guilty Houses lose everything and their Houses are eradicated, or they only lose part of what they own. Once again, _no-one_ is exempt from these punishments, and at Hogwarts, Hogwarts sees and hears _all..._ this may have been ignored previously, but it will _not_ be ignored now, I can assure of _that_! If you do this, to _anyone_ , you _will_ be captured and punished, and your Houses along with you! Professors Vector, Flitwick, Sprout and myself all have copies of the Hogwarts Charter, where the laws prior to the Wizengamot's creation are recorded, in our offices, and any students wishing to read them has only to go see their House Mistress or Master. _So Mote it Be_!"

Everyone in the Great Hall felt the magic accepting the decree again, so only the most stupid students could question what was said.

"While we are on this subject…. I am aware that in recent generations, many have come to regard the traditional views on abstinence until they have been entered into magical arrangements with the one they are to marry to be an outmoded concept. To those young ladies especially who feel that it wouldn't hurt to give in to pressure to cast aside abstinence, I would _strongly_ advise that you _at least_ wait until _after_ you have attended the mandatory opening classes of the Magical Culture course before doing this, because these will explain to you exactly _what_ you would lose!"

* * *

Sir Nicholas wafted up to across the dais to whisper something to Minerva and she nodded with a smile. "At breakfast tomorrow morning, _all_ students will be required to take a formal inheritance test! Students will not be forced to make the results of these tests public _unless_ their own actions make it necessary, however you are on notice that any references to staff or other students' so-called blood status will be regarded as just cause to publicise the truth about your own blood status! The fact is that with the exception of the one in several million so-called Muggleborns who _aren't_ descended from one of the roughly five thousand known magical bloodlines, _everyone_ in Magical Britain is what is known as a Half-Blood!…." She waved to Hermione. "Lady Granger here was _believed_ to be a Muggleborn, however a formal inheritance test has proven her to be the true Heir to at least one of the twenty Most Ancient Houses, in fact Lady Granger's house was one of the thirteen that made up the original Druids Council which directed the Magical people of Britain for over a thousand years before it was expanded into the twenty Most Ancient Houses of the Wizards Council which ruled Magical Britain up until the Wizengamot was created, and they are the most magically powerful houses in Magical Britain. Anyone who is still clinging to any outmoded fantasies about the so-called 'superiority of the Pureblood Houses' would do well to remember that! And do not forget about what I told you about the penalties associated with the crimes of attempted line theft or attacking significant members of the Most Ancient or Ancient Houses either!"

At that point, Draco Rosier (Narcissa, and therefore Draco, defaulted to her Mother's Maiden name when her marriage to Malfoy was annulled and she was formally cast out of the House of Black) and Marcus Burke (it was Flint until the House of Flint was eradicated and he also defaulted to his mother's maiden name) jumped up, screaming that they weren't going to listen to these lies against the Pureblood Houses any more, and whipped out their wands, pointing them at Minerva and Filius and getting as far as " _Avada_ …." before they were blasted into the wall behind them by a pair of non-verbal stunners that were so overpowered that the impact with the wall would have killed them if they weren't protected by their magic. Their broken bodies and wands were then levitated across the Great Hall and dumped unceremoniously on the High Table.

Minerva was visibly shaken by this, but she managed to solemnly nod her thanks to Harry, who was currently putting away his Rowan wand (already having disappeared the Elder Wand which he'd used in his off-hand) and say in a relatively steady voice. "Thank you for protecting us Duke Potter….." before turning to face the students again and continue. "Duke Potter's House was _also_ one of the thirteen Houses which made up the original Druids Council! In fact it was one of the three original Druid Lords."

Less than ten minutes later, Amelia came running in with a team of trusted Aurors, and goblins to perform official inheritance tests on them (they were revived, but silenced and secured). As soon as the inheritance tests were done, the results were magically expanded to cover the wall behind the High Table and Minerva used them to give a lesson while Amelia was seeing the memories of those two trying to murder Minerva and Filius with the killing curse, and Harry's devastating response.

Amelia froze the image as Harry cast the two stunners simultaneously with a wand in each hand and shook her head. From the effects when they struck, they had _each_ matched the power of at least five or six of her Aurors, but he'd cast both at essentially the same moment with perfect aim. She couldn't argue that the response was justified, because the murderous intent that Malfoy and Flint's memories showed had the green glow of the killing curse forming on their wands before the curses were half finished, but this proof of the magical power that Harry could muster was frightening.

"As you can see, these so-called Pureblood families are most definitely _not_ purely magical. Draco Lucius Malfoy and his father Lucius Abraxus Malfoy were constantly sprouting Pureblood supremacy rubbish, but as you can see, there are numerous Muggles in their family tree..." Sir Nicholas wafted up and whispered to her for a while and she nodded grimly before going on. "I am told that these Muggles were in fact young girls who's families were forced to marry them to the Malfoys to bring money and fresh blood into the Malfoy family after they did away with their Witch or Squib wives for failing to produce a suitable Heir. This poor child was just eleven when she was forced to marry fifty five year old Septimus Malfoy, and she died giving birth to the Malfoy Heir at twelve. This one was fifteen…. she was twelve….. fourteen here... this one was thirteen… Well I believe that the point is that it is _quite_ clear from this that, as well as being monsters who preyed on children, the Malfoys were most definitely not _Pure_ bloods!..."

Minerva stopped in shock when she saw something else that was rather disturbing, because Lucius Malfoy was apparently Draco's half _brother_ , rather than his father, and she didn't believe that the Narcissa Black she remembered as the seventeen year old student she was when she became pregnant would have ever _willingly_ submitted to her prospective father-in-law, for that matter Minerva doubted that she would have willingly submitted to Lucius while she was still at school, so she hurriedly went on to Flint.

"Marcus Tiberius Flint and his family were also quite outspoken against anyone who wasn't _pure_ of blood, but what do we see here? Numerous Squibs and Muggles that they were using to try and perpetuate their line. Those who learned science in Muggle schools will confirm that the fact that the Muggle girls were the only ones who _weren't_ first, second or third cousins of the Flint line is most likely the reason for the Flints' common lack of intelligence and magical ability, as the perils of excessive in-breeding are well known in the Muggle world."

* * *

She turned back to Harry. "My Lord Potter… I understand that you have chosen to judge these two wizards under the Wizards Council's House Laws?"

Harry bowed to her. "I have, Headmistress McGonagall, do I have your leave to proceed?"

"You do, My Lord."

Harry bowed again and then turned to face the students. "These two students are guilty of attacking two members of Hogwarts' staff with the forbidden killing curse, therefore under the rules of the Hogwarts Charter I, Duke Henry James Potter, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, order them to be expelled from Hogwarts, and that they be stripped of their magic and have their wands snapped. _So Mote It Be!_ " Hermione and the others quietly repeated " _So Mote It Be!_ " so that the by now familiar magical acceptance washed over everyone in the hall. Amelia ceremoniously broke both their wands before Harry continued.

"Furthermore, Draco Lucius Rosier, formerly known as Draco Lucius Malfoy and Marcus Tiberius Burke, formerly known as Marcus Tiberius Flint, have both attempted to use the forbidden killing curse to murder Countess Minerva McGonagall, Head of the Noble and Ancient Houses of Ross and Urquhart, and Professor Filius Flitwick, who are both related by blood to the Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter! Therefore under the Most Ancient House Laws of Magical Britain, I order that the Noble and Ancient House of Rosier and the Noble House of Burke be eradicated in Magical Britain, and that any and all titles, holdings, property, possessions and moneys belonging to Draco Lucius Rosier and the Noble and Ancient House of Rosier are hereby forfeit to Countess Minerva McGonagall and any and all titles, holdings, property, possessions and moneys belonging to Marcus Tiberius Burke and the Noble House of Burke are hereby forfeit to Professor Filius Flitwick, thereby elevating Professor Flitwick to Baron Flitwick and the Flitwick Family to the Noble House of Flitwick. Finally…. under the Most Ancient House Laws of Magical Britain and Laws of the Wizards Council, the penalty for attempting to murder the Head of Two Noble and Ancients Houses and another blood relation to the Head and Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter with the forbidden killing curse is _Death._ I therefore order Draco Lucius Rosier and Marcus Tiberius Burke to be put through the Veil of Death! _So Mote It Be!_ " Hermione and the others quietly repeated " _So Mote It Be!_ " again and the magical acceptance washed over them. Harry popped away without another word and Hermione followed him, as she knew where he'd gone to….. Luna, Daphne and Astoria looked at each other and silently agreed that as the one with the strongest link to Harry, Hermione was the one to handle this.

There was silence in the Great Hall after Harry and Hermione disappeared, because while there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the death sentences they'd just heard was official, legal and irrevocable, they were still shocking. Amelia ordered the Aurors to take the two would be murderers directly to the Chamber of Death and put them through the Veil as she, Kingsley and the others who had reviewed the memories taken from them with her had seen proof that the judgement was justified…. if Harry hadn't stopped them, they _would_ have murdered Minerva and Filius as they intended….

Amelia _had_ to ask Minerva and Filius about that blood relation matter though... she knew it was the truth, the decree would not have been accepted otherwise, but she could not for the life of her work out _how_ it could be true.

She just shook her head when Minerva and Filius told her in a whisper that Minerva was a sworn vassal of the House of Potter, sealed in blood, and both Filius and Harry had gone through formal blood options into the Gringott family with Grand Clan Chief Gringott… it was hard to laugh with the memory of Filius and Minerva's attempted murders and the would be murderers' death sentences so fresh in her memory, but Harry was such a consummate politician! He'd used what in Filius' case was a legitimate fact that didn't really relate to the wizarding world at all to legitimately justify using the all powerful Most Ancient House Laws to eliminate two more dangerous Dark Houses which had been too careful to give them the proof they needed to address the threat earlier, and to ensure that foul creatures like Malfoy and Flint no longer represented a threat to anyone. Even if he _was_ eighteen and world weary on the inside though, Harry was just too young to be mixed up in all this foulness!

* * *

While she was considering this, Efa and Emyr suddenly appeared, taking Luna, Daphne and Astoria by the hand and disappearing again, because Harry and Hermione had to explain to them what they'd just felt happening.

This wasn't as difficult as Harry had been dreading, because from what they'd learned through their links to them, the other girls really _did_ understand that Harry and Hermione were at least five or six years older than them on the inside, that was a large part of the reason they'd agreed that Hermione was the best one to help Harry deal with anguish, remorse and self loathing that they felt him feeling over ordering the executions of Malfoy and Flint, and all the other executions that had been ordered that day at his instigation. They _also_ understood that none of _them_ were physically or emotionally ready to do what Hermione had done to help Harry, so once they accepted that the fact that Hermione was now married, rather than betrothed, to Harry didn't effect their own relationships with either of them, they were happy for them.

Of course, the discussion with Gringott, Angela, Sirius and Alastor didn't go as smoothly. Gringott had been notified when their status changed from betrothals to marriages, and he in turn had contacted both of their guardians, so they arrived in Harry's common room and told Emyr that they needed to talk to Harry and Hermione immediately. They weren't too surprised when Luna, Daphne and Astoria joined them for that discussion…. But they _did_ ask whether the girls' parents should be included in this….

Daphne shook her head quickly. "No… This does not change _our_ betrothals to Harry at all, and they would only get upset over nothing."

Luna nodded in agreement. "Daddy will understand, but we can tell him later."

The adults nodded dubiously and looked at Harry, who in turn looked at Hermione.

Hermione shook her head at him and responded to the question in their eyes, waving to the other girls. "We could all feel how upset Harry was, and how much he blamed himself for all the deaths that happened today, so I went to him to help him get through it. I wasn't getting through to him so I started ramping up the kissing and…. things…. but we knew where we were going, so we completed the formal _aes sídhe_ bonding ritual with each other before we got carried away…. and we sealed our bonds when we reached orgasm together."

She took in the looks on Alastor and Angela's faces and snapped at them. "Stop that! You know damned that Harry and I were adults on the inside, and thanks to the House Magic our bodies were pretty much thirteen or fourteen _before_ the bonding, so I'm really no younger physically than I was the first time Weasley used the potions to force me to let him screw me and he _hurt_ me…. quite intentionally…. but Harry was gentle and loving and caring, so it was _nothing_ like it was with that bastard and that's helping me let go of the memory of what Weasley did to me! Look! We didn't plan this but I _am_ happy that I've sealed my bonds with Harry so that our links are so much stronger and our magic has grown so much from being granted our majority with the marriage bond, gaining each other's Houses' Consorts' magic and the _aes sídhe_ bonding ritual itself, because that will help us deal with what's in front of us. We've addressed many of the big issues that Harry and I remember, but we can feel that there are still a hell of a lot of other ones in front of us. The other girls will be waiting until they're old enough, that hasn't changed, but the fact is that Harry and I _are_ old enough, and as long as we leave our rings hidden no-one else us going to know that we're actually married. Anyway, it's done and there's no going back, so there's no sense in arguing about it…. and as Daphne said it doesn't change her, Astoria's or Luna's betrothals to Harry at _all_."

Angela burst into tears at that and came over to hug them, and they all agreed to keep this a family secret as well, except for advising Minerva and Amelia so that they'd be forewarned in case Hermione's new status came up in the records.

That night Luna came to them to be comforted as usual, and as they'd said, it was no different from any other night that she'd come to them to be comforted.

* * *

In the morning, Minerva came to Corvus Tower again to fill them in on what was happening on the Hogwarts front. They were pleasantly surprised to hear that Albus Jones _had_ managed to talk Horace Slughorn into formally accepting the position of Potions Master and that he was already at Hogwarts, ready to take up his duties, _and_ that he'd told Binns and Trelawney that they were terminated as well. Hearing that Jones had promised Slughorn the position of Slytherin's House Master to get him to agree was a less pleasant surprise, but Harry had warned Jones about overstepping his authority last night, so he discussed how he planned to deal with this with Minerva and Rolanda Hooch, and they were in complete agreement, in fact they were looking forward to it.

Albus was obviously pleased with himself as he strutted into the Great Hall, but his good mood evaporated when he heard Harry hissing " _Mister_ Jones!" because he wet himself as he remembered just what Harry Potter had said would happen to _Mister_ Jones.

Harry went on. "I distinctly remember telling you that you had no authority to make any promises on Hogwarts' behalf, and that Headmistress McGonagall had the final say on _all_ decisions to do with Hogwarts!"

He only got "What do you mean Harry…." out before the angry flashing of Harry's eyes turned his bladder mishap into a gusher. " _I mean Duke Potter!_ "

"I ordered you to secure Professor Slughorn as Hogwarts' _Potions_ Master, I said nothing about offering him anything else, such as being Slytherin's House Master! In fact I specifically remember ordering you to make sure that he understood that he was _never_ allowed to be alone with any students at Hogwarts... so would you care to explain then why I was informed this morning that you have promised him that he would be Slytherin's House Master?

"But…. But you told me to get him to replace Severus and Severus held both roles, just as Horace did before him…. I couldn't offer him the Potions' Master position without Head of Slytherin as well!"

"Yes, you _could_ … and in fact that is _exactly_ what you were ordered to secure him as!"

Harry fixed him with a baleful glare for over a minute as he discussed this with Hermione over their link (using Jones' terror to cover up the fact that he was stripping him of all the mind magic knowledge that he'd used so extensively against others for nearly a century), and then spoke in the same icy tone that projected around the Great Hall as he had with Snape. "You have failed Hogwarts _again_ Professor Jones, so you must be penalised again! Firstly, you will inform Professor Slughorn that he is _not_ Slytherin's House Master, and that you never had the authority to offer him that position, you will _also_ inform him of the restrictions against his _ever_ being alone with students. Professor Vector is Slytherin's House Mistress at Hogwarts and the position will remain with her! Secondly, you as you have proven yet again that you are not capable of carrying out the duties of even the _Secondary_ Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as required, you are hereby stripped of that role! Your role at Hogwarts is _only_ the Defence Against the Dark Arts Master, however you _will_ also cover Transfiguration and Charms classes as directed by Headmistress McGonagall, because she will now have sole responsibility for the duties of the Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Professor Flitwick also has his Ravenclaw House Master duties. In addition to this, Madam Rolanda Hooch will take over the role of House Mistress of Gryffindor from Headmistress McGonagall, effective immediately, to give her more time for her Headmistress' duties. _So Mote It Be!"_ Hermione, Sue and Luna quietly repeated _"So Mote It Be!"_ and those in the hall felt Hogwarts' magic accepting the decree.

Jones collapsed in his mess as he realised that he'd now lost the last of the titles and power that he'd used to lord it over Magical Britain…. the Magical _World..._ for the more than four and a half decades since he'd supposedly defeated Gellert in Forty Five. In less than a day, this _boy_ had stripped everything from him! Without the Elder Wand or the Dumbledore family magic, and only half his _own_ magic, he knew that it would be suicide to attack him or his party, and he wasn't ready to give up his life yet….. He suddenly smiled to himself at that thought, as he'd remembered that _he_ had the Philosopher's Stone, so he had all the time in the world to regain what had been taken from him.

Just then Hermione wrinkled up her nose and stage whispered. "Oh my gods, what's that awful _smell_? It smells like someone here has had an accident Harry, can we go before I'm sick, _please_?"

Harry just bowed and led her away from the old wizard sitting in the puddle on the floor, and their group headed for the HufflePuff table, at the end away from the High Table.

* * *

By the time that Slughorn sauntered into the Great Hall looking pleased with himself, Jones had cleaned himself up and was sitting at the High Table, though he was most unhappy that the elves had blocked him from going to his normal seat and insisted that as a _junior_ professor (because Professor _Jones_ was new, and had none of the status or seniority that Headmaster Dumbledore had had), he must sit at the end of the table. Horace Slughorn was just as unhappy when Jones informed him that he _wasn't_ Master of Slytherin as he'd promised him the night before, because Professor Vector was in fact Mistress of Slytherin. Jones was humiliated when he had to admit that he wasn't even Co-Headmaster any more, he was just an ordinary Professor like him, bitterly waving at where Potter and his party sat at the far end of the Hufflepuff table. "There's nothing I can do about it Horace! _Potter_ has used some ancient laws to take all my authority from me."

Slughorn stormed down to the group of students that Albus had indicated, and started demanding that he be given what was rightfully his or he'd leave this moment, but his eyes widened as Harry turned to face him with an innocent expression on his face. "Oh my gods, you're Lily Evans boy! Lily was one of my all time favourite stu….."

He didn't have a chance to speak another word, because Harry remembered what this slimy bastard had done, so as soon as he had eye contact he struck with a devastating Legilimens attack before Slughorn had a chance to put any defences up. Harry rampaged through the man's memories until he found and brutally ripped out the memories of what he'd told Tom Riddle and others like Lucius Malfoy and the nefarious deals he'd done over the past century or so to rake in more power and money for him and his House, of which he was apparently the last. Harry also removed every memory of his mother, because this slimy bastard didn't deserve memories of her, and of the potions Slughorn had created to make young boys (and girls) compliant and forget what had happened afterwards. He buried a compulsion to harm himself whenever he was attracted to students, or anyone else young enough to be his children or grandchildren, deep in his psyche where it was unlikely to be found, and ensured that it would take a master mind healer to break if it _was_ found. He also removed any and all knowledge of Mind Magics, the Dark Arts and _any_ prohibited potions. When he broke the link, feeling soiled by what he'd seen in the man's mind, Slughorn fell to his knees.

Harry stood, reaching out to Emyr over their link to ask for their elves to clean out the fortune in exotic potions ingredients that made up Snape's private stock, which Jones had offered to Slughorn as an incentive to take up the position, and take it back to Corvus Tower, as there were hundreds of thousands of galleons tied up in that private potions stock and Hogwarts had paid for it, so it was all going back to Hogwarts to be sold if possible! While he was at it, he asked Emyr to find a Sixth Year Potions text book that had been heavily annotated my someone calling himself the Half Blood Prince, and move it to his trunk flat, as he remembered that Snape had scribbled a _lot_ of very good information in that text book.

With that done, he addressed Slughorn in a voice that carried throughout the Great Hall. "Baron Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn, you are guilty of teaching the common pretender Tom Marvolo Riddle falsely styling himself as Lord Voldemort, who's mother, a borderline Squib named Merope Gaunt, trapped a local Muggle into marrying her with love potions but died a pauper at the birth of her son because Riddle Senior left her as soon as she stopped dosing him with the potions, and Riddle's servants, known as Death Eaters, the Dark Arts to gain wealth and position for yourself. Because of your self serving actions, many witches, wizards and Muggles were murdered by Riddle and his so-called Death Eaters, in fact entire families were wiped out. Among those who were murdered as a result of your actions were the previous Duke and Duchess Potter, the Head and Consort of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, _my_ parents! Therefore I, Duke Henry James Potter, Head of the Most Ancient House of Potter, order that the Noble and Ancient House of Slughorn be eradicated in Magical Britain and that any and all titles, holdings, property, possessions and moneys belonging to Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn and the Noble and Ancient House of Slughorn are hereby forfeit to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter….. I also take half of the magic of Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn as a personal penalty and like Albus Jones, Horace Selwyn is forbidden from _ever_ being alone with Hogwarts students or other children…. _So Mote It Be!"_ Hermione, Sue and Luna quietly repeated _"So Mote It Be!"_ and once again the others in the Great Hall felt the decree being accepted.

With that done, Harry went on in a voice that only those about him heard. "And as I told Mister Jones _Mister_ Selwyn, if you walk out that door _without_ Hogwarts releasing you from your duties, you will be stripped of your magic under the terms of the Hogwarts Charter that you agreed to when you formally accepted the position of Hogwarts' Potions Master! To make it clear, Hogwarts will _not_ release you from your duty to her, so your _only_ chance of retaining what magic you have left is to remain here and fulfil your duties as her Potions Master to the best of your abilities…. And by the way…. that fabulous treasure of expensive and exotic potions ingredients that Mister Jones promised you is also gone! Hogwarts paid for it so it has been recovered and will be sold to return the money to Hogwarts' vaults to cover the costs of operating the school…." His voice dropped into menacing tone he'd used on a few of his enemies over the past few days. "Do you understand me _Mister_ Selwyn?"

At that moment, Emyr appeared in his House Elf glamour and informed Harry that several thousands of galleons worth of rare potions ingredients were missing from the private potions store when they went to retrieve them for Hogwarts. Harry looked at Slughorn no… Selwyn and remembered the extensive potions kit that he carried in that dragon skin bag he always had with him. He didn't have it here…. but Harry spied it at the High Table and summoned it, telling Emyr over their link to catch it as if _he'd_ summoned it. As soon as he had it, Emyr opened the bag and retrieved seven or eight thousand galleons worth of extremely rare and exotic potions ingredients which had come from Snape's private store. While he was doing that, Harry used _Selwyn's_ aggravated state, and the fact that he'd removed any mind magic knowledge he'd had in the earlier Legilimens attack, to go into his mind and confirm that he'd made arrangements the night before to go off and sell these potions ingredients right after his first potions class this morning. He took these memories to pass on to Auntie Ami so that she could use the DMLE to shut down the illegal apothecaries that Selwyn was planning on selling these ingredients to, and hopefully catch the ones who were buying ingredients for prohibited potions from them, Molly Weasley came to mind when he thought about their customers and he smiled to himself, as Auntie Ami would just _love_ to be able to arrest _that_ bitch.

When he was done, he spoke again. "Explain yourself _Mister_ Selwyn! From what we found here, the _only_ conclusion that can be drawn is that you were attempting to _steal_ rare and valuable potions ingredients from Hogwarts and sell them for your own personal gain! The penalty that you will incur for this is that you will now cover whatever Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures classes that Headmistress McGonagall deems necessary, as well as your own Potions classes! Now! You did not answer me before, _d_ _o you understand me Mister Selwyn_?"

" _Yes!_ Yes, I understand Har…."

Harry cut him off. " _ **STOP!**_ What is it with you lot? You at least _were_ raised in a Noble and Ancient House, were you not? If this is any indication of what the House of Slughorn was like, it is no loss that it is now _gone_! As I had to explain to Mister Jones and your predecessor as Hogwarts' Potions Master, my title is Duke Potter, and I _will_ be addressed as such unless I give you leave to use another form of address, but you… and Mister Jones!" he added as he looked up at the High Table "Will _not_ be given leave to address me as anything other than my proper title! Take care Mister Selwyn, the _only_ things you have left to be penalised are the rest of your magic, your memories and your _life_! And As I told Mister Jones, at your age, you are not likely to survive losing the rest of your magic either! _Do… You… Understand?_ "

" _Yes, I understand Duke Potter!_ "

* * *

Harry nodded. "Good!" then he stopped, musing, as the thought _had_ crossed his mind to threaten him with makig him help Filch in his Caretaker's duties, but that just reminded him of how useless and horrid that creature was, and how much better off the students would be if he no longer darkened the halls of Hogwarts. That in turn made him remember another so-called Squib, so he caught Jones' eye and launched a more subtle Legilimens probe than he'd used on Selwyn, getting the confirmation of how Dumbledore had recruited Mrs Figg to work for him, and what became his Order of the Pheonix, as she had in fact been a student at Hogwarts when he started teaching here. Arabella had been a poor student and witch, probably on par with Crabbe and Goyle magically, so Dumbledore had bound her weak magic even more to make it look as though it had failed her (as sometimes happened) in order to get her pushed out of Hogwarts to make the results of his classes look better.

After she left Hogwarts, her family had sent Arabella to Muggle schools, but they hadn't abandoned her like many Magical families did their Squib children, so Dumbledore had had to keep renewing the bindings every few years to keep up the appearance that she was a Squib, and he also bound her intellect to try and prevent her working out what was going on. Arabella had married another Squib, Herbert Figg, and they'd been happy together up until Herbert became one of the first casualties of the First Wizarding War. Dumbledore had used Herbert's murder to bind her into his service then with loyalty charms, as he could see a use for spies and servants in the Muggle world, but Harry's memories said that she must have fought the compulsions to treat him as badly as the Dursleys did, because his memories of the times that the Dursleys had dumped him on her while they went away on holiday were of a kindly old lady. While sickened by Dumbledore's careless willingness to bind a young witch's magic and have her pushed out of the Magical world just to make _his_ class results look more impressive, he had to let that go with the promise that Jones would pay for this, besides, Jones was going to _HATE this_!

"Headmistress McGonagall!"

Minerva looked at him from the High Table, trying to keep the smile of anticipation of whatever he was about to say off her face. "Yes Duke Potter?"

"As you may have heard Ma'am, Professor Jones is no longer Co-Headmaster, so you now hold the role of Hogwarts' Headmistress by yourself..." Minerva nodded "Also, Madam Hooch has assumed the role of Gryffindor's House Mistress from you, and Professor Selwyn has been disabused of the notion that he will become Slytherin's House Master, as Professor Vector has proven herself quite capable as Slytherin's House Mistress with the way she has looked after the students in Slytherin through the turmoil of the last two nights..."

"My pardon Duke Potter, but who is Professor Selwyn? The man whom I presume you are referring to was known as Professor _Slughorn_ when he was last at Hogwarts was he not?"

"My apologies for the confusion Headmistress McGonagall. I discovered that Professor Slughorn had supplied information to Tom Riddle and his so-called Death Eaters which ultimately led to my parents, the previous Duke and Duchess Potter, being murdered by Tom Riddle. Therefore, under Most Ancient House Law I called for the House of Slughorn to be eradicated in Magical Britain and that everything belonging to him and his house be forfeited to the House of Potter, so he has been relegated to his mother's maiden name of Selwyn, much the same way Professor Dumbledore became Professor Jones."

Minerva nodded. "I thank you for that information Duke Potter, was there anything else?"

"Yes Headmistress… As Professor Jones is no longer sharing the Headmistress' duties with you, he will be available, at your discretion, to cover Transfiguration classes for yourself, and Charms classes for Professor Flitwick, as Professor Flitwick also has other duties as the Ravenclaw's House Master. Similarly, Professor Selwyn will be available at your discretion to cover Herbology classes for Professor Sprout, to free her up for her duties as Hufflepuff's House Mistress, and also Care of Magical Creatures, as I understand that Professor Kettleburn is less mobile than he once was, so I expect that it could be of assistance for him to have someone to cover some of his classes. It is my understanding that Professor Selwyn is quite capable in the subjects of Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, and as we all know, Professor Jones is a Master of both Transfiguration and Charms."

Minerva nodded again. "Indeed! I am sure that Professors Flitwick, Sprout and Kettleburn will appreciate the assistance, as do I. Was that all Duke Potter?"

"No Ma'am, in the excitement of yesterday, I'm afraid that I forgot to mention another change to Hogwarts' staff which must be made. We have heard numerous stories of Mister Filch's failure to perform the duties required of him as Hogwarts' Caretaker, and furthermore of his constant animosity to what appears to be the entire student population of Hogwarts, this cannot be condoned, so Mister Filch is terminated, effective immediately. _So Mote It Be."_ As usual, Luna and Sue followed Hermione's lead in repeating _"So Mote It Be."_ and Hogwarts' acceptance was felt, then Harry went on.

"I really do not understand what the previous Headmasters were thinking Ma'am, keeping a man like _that_ around Hogwarts' students, but I'm afraid that I could not allow it to continue any further."

Minerva nodded again. "I quite understand Duke Potter, I questioned that very thing on numerous occasions myself but failed to get an answer. Do you have any recommendations for Mister Filch's replacement?"

"Yes Ma'am, a witch who lives in the Muggle suburb where I grew up, Madam Arabella Figg…."

He paused to let Minerva get over the shock of hearing Arabella Figg being called a _witch_ , because she'd known her as a Squib for over two decades. Harry nodded grimly at the questioning look she gave him, and glanced significantly at Jones... The look Minerva sent the man's way at that promised retribution, but once she'd settled herself, Harry continued.

"We haven't had a chance to determine whether Madam Figg wishes to accept the position as yet, but it is our hope that she will. If so, might I also suggest that Mister Hagrid's duties as Keeper of Keys and Grounds be amended to allow him to assist Madam Figg with those items that she may not be physically capable of…. and I believe that it would also be in Hogwarts' interests to have Mister Hagrid officially made Assistant Professor for the Care of Magical Creatures classes, as it is my understanding that Mister Hagrid has a great deal of talent and knowledge in this subject…."

Jones went to make an objection, complaint or rebuttal at that point but he swallowed his words and may have wet himself again when he was transfixed by a menacing look from those flashing green eyes again.

Minerva allowed herself a smile before she answered Harry. "These all seem to be admirable suggestions Duke Potter…. May I accompany whoever is going to offer Madam Figg the position of Hogwarts' Caretaker please? I have been personally acquainted with Madam Figg for over two decades and I would like to point out… as Hogwarts' Headmistress, all the benefits she would accrue from accepting the position here... and also reassure her that there will be room for her kneazle cats here, because as you may know she breeds kneazle, cat crosses."

Harry nodded. "Surely Headmistress McGonagall, I had intended to go myself as I am acquainted with Madam Figg myself, but I am sure that she will welcome another friendly face."

Minerva nodded. "Perhaps we can go to offer her the position once we have completed the students' inheritance tests… speaking of which, as some of the students appear to have finished their breakfasts, this would be a good time to begin that…. _Students_ , the tables in front of the dais have people set up for you to complete your inheritance tests, so once you have completed your breakfast, please come up one at a time to do the tests. Many of the students who completed their inheritance tests last night were pleasantly surprised by what the tests revealed, but we must remind you that these tests are _mandatory_ , and any student who forces us to find them to complete the test will be disciplined!"

* * *

As the students started heading up to the tables, Minerva decided to get another job out of the way and headed out of the Great Hall. She smiled gratefully when Alastor, Ulfr and Snorri suddenly became visible, then changed their appearance into unrecognisable but intimidating wizards to escort her down to give Filch his marching orders. None of them were too surprised that they needed Sir Nicholas and the Bloody Baron's assistance to convince the old fool that Dumbledore not only wasn't the Headmaster any more, he wasn't even a _Dumbledore_ any more because he'd been thrown out of the Dumbledore Family and penalised everything he had, and then some, for the crimes he'd committed. Once they'd prevented him taking anything that didn't belong to him, Filch was walked out the gates and banned from ever entering Hogwarts again.

While they were out there, they went to have a talk with Hagrid, because as Minerva was leaving the Great Hall, Harry had intercepted her and pointed out that the fact that they'd discovered that Arabella's mind and magic had been interfered with, _and_ that Hagrid had been a student at Hogwarts gave them a valid reason to get Hagrid tested and the bindings, compulsions and loyalty and memory charms removed from him, as well as Arabella.

Hagrid was happy to take Minerva and Alastor's word for what was going on, but he was more than a little worried when he found that he'd been transported to _Gringotts_ for this. He was enraged when the human healers there (Healers Nightingale and Johnson) told him, Minerva and Alastor that the magical signature of the one who'd bound his intellect, magic and physical strength was the same as the one who'd bound Harry almost enough to kill him and Alastor had growled. "Aye, and the rest of us! Albus Bloody Dumbledore!"

When they offered Hagrid the option of having his body regrown to overcome the effects of having his physical growth bound until well after his growth period was finished, he shook his head. "Ye're jokin' aren't ye? I'm already twice the size of most wizarding folk, if I was _three_ times their size I'd be sent back to me Ma's people for sure! and then I'd have to deal with 'em trying to stamp out the runt of the tribe. No, I'll stay this size thank ye!"

With the bindings off his intellect and magic, it was as Harry had expected. Hagrid was at least as bright as many of the professors at Hogwarts, and he rivalled Harry's power magically. He was unhappy to learn that the makeshift wand that he'd made for himself from the salvaged core of his broken wand and a ladies' umbrella was actually blocking, rather than channelling his magic, but he was thrilled with the new Oak wand that Garrick Ollivander made for him with three dragon heartstring cores (as Harry's Rowan wand and the Elder Wand proved that wands with three compatible cores braided together were capable of handling and generating far more power than single core wands).

As soon as the students' inheritance tests were done and those who'd discovered that they were the true heirs of dormant (and some extant) Houses had accepted their titles and been advised to accept set select regents and voting proxies for their Houses, and Minerva announced that the inheritance tests had _proven_ that there was not a single Pureblood or Muggleborn at Hogwarts, as _everyone_ , students and staff alike, was _Half-Blood._

Then Harry, Minerva and Alastor went to see Missus Figg. Arabella trusted Minerva and Alastor enough to agree to have the bindings and charms removed, but while she was distraught at the idea of the man she'd trusted most of her life doing this to her, she wasn't terribly surprised once she was freed to think straight again, and she was actually quite philosophical about it as she noted that if he hadn't done that to her, she might not have met her Herbert, and the thirty odd years she had with Herbert had been the best years of her life. Once she was freed from her bindings, compulsions and the like, there was no question of Arabella _not_ taking the position at Hogwarts, in fact she moved in that day with her kneazle cats, and the goblins organised the sale of her house.

Albus Jones was terrified when he saw from the looks that both Figg and Hagrid were giving him that they _knew_ what he'd done to them. The fact that McGonagall _also_ introduced Augusta Longbottom as Professor Longbottom, the new History of Magic and Magical Culture Mistress, and Alastor and Black as key members of Potter's party that night was enough to make him want to run away, because he was being surrounded by the ones who'd orchestrated his downfall (he couldn't believe that _Potter_ was the one behind this, he was only a child) but he didn't doubt for a moment that Potter had been telling Horace the truth when he said that if they tried to abandon their duties without being released by Hogwarts, they'd lose the rest of their magic and probably die.

Jones' despair kept growing when he tried to make sure that Hagrid and Figg couldn't talk about what he'd done to them and discovered that he'd lost _all_ his knowledge of Mind Magic (Alastor must have changed sides and done that to him somehow), and again when he was contacted by Lord Macmillan to warn him that the Hogwarts' Governors' Board had voted overwhelmingly to expunge the expulsion of Rubeus Hagrid and dismissal of Arabella Fawcett on the grounds that there was evidence to prove that Hagrid had been framed, and Fawcett interfered with by the same Slytherin teacher, and that they'd _both_ been encouraged to complete their educations while they were working at Hogwarts by both Professor McGonagall, Hogwarts' Headmistress and Madam Marchbanks, the Director of the Wizarding Examination Authority and Chief Witch.

This was a complete disaster for Jones, because not only were all his supporters being advised that he'd lost _every_ position of authority that he'd had in less than a day, so more and more of them were becoming unavailable to him when he tried to contact them to rally them to his cause... but he'd changed the school records to show that he'd been in Gryffindor and altered the memories of anyone who knew otherwise to bury the fact that he was in Slytherin over sixty years ago to create his 'light' image back when he first started teaching at Hogwarts! How in the seven hells had that information come out _now_? What use was immunity from prosecution in the Wizengamot when Potter and his allies were making sure that he lost _everything_ , and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it? His life was turning into one big game of Jenga and all he could do was watch the blocks being removed.


	9. Finding Your Feet

**NB: One section covers unpleasant and mature concepts (not acts). It is marked so that ir can be skipped if this is preferred.**

 **A few amendments were made to New Broom… the inheritance test showed that Lucius wasn't Draco's Daddy, he was actually his** ** _brother_** **because Abraxus Malfoy raped Narcissa when she was still at Hogwarts to force the marriage through. Harry and Hermione completed the formal** ** _aes sídhe_** **bonding ritual to get everything they could out of what they were going to do** **and Dumbledork rose to power twenty years earlier in this world. After he was awarded the Order of Merlin First Class for supposedly defeating his boyfriend, he used his notoriety to drum up the support he needed to depose Dippet as Headmaster after the Chamber of Secrets debacle and be made Chief Warlock etc, as doing all this twenty or thirty years** ** _AFTER_** **he was the saviour of the Magical World makes no sense.**

 **Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

Towards the end of the week where they put Messrs Jones and Selwyn in their place, about four weeks after Harry talked to Gringott, things were beginning to slow down from the breakneck pace they'd been going ever since Harry rejoined the wizarding world….

Things of great moment were still happening, but the pace was more manageable. They had agreed to try and see whether it may still be possible to save Ginny from what she was to become by getting her away from her mother before Molly had that last year alone with her to finish corrupting her, and especially without the coming trauma of being possessed and bent to the will of Tom Riddle for eight or nine months. While Arthur wasn't happy about agreeing that they _had_ to test her, and more to the point Molly, he had jumped at the chance to try and get Ginny off the path she'd followed last time, even though she may not be his biological daughter. It wasn't hard to use the Hogwarts Charter to get her in, because like Luna and Tori, she'd been displaying her magic since she was five or six.

Arthur was both relieved and enraged to learn that Ginny _was_ in fact his daughter, because she was the first daughter in a few generations for the Weasley family, even though she was officially a Prewett. He was enraged because of what the goblin mind healers discovered his _wife_ had been doing to his daughter, _their_ daughter when they were healing the damage done to her…. and to see memories of what another year left to Molly's _gentle_ ministrations had turned his daughter into. There was no way that they were going to leave _any_ girl in the clutches of Molly Weasley and her sons by Bartemius Crouch Senior and Cornelius Fudge….. and the fact that Ginny was Arthur's only daughter meant that none of them would be allowed anywhere near Ginny _ever_ again.

 ** _Descriptions of unpleasant topics here, you may want to skip this section._**

Through using Merlin to sort her, they saw just what Ginny's life had been like for the last couple of years since Fred and George went to Hogwarts, and they all wanted to hex that foul hag, Ron and Percy into small, pain wracked pieces, and Albus Jones as well, because _he'd_ been applying the compulsions and memory charms they'd needed on top of the potions to make her go along with their foul 'lessons' and forcibly removed her memories of the worst parts of it! As they'd expected, Ginny had been forced to practice sexual acts with her half brothers, though her mother had wanted her to properly merge the Prewett line with the House of Potter, so she had told them not to do anything to Ginny which could jeopardise that. Oral sex was something Ginny _was_ forced to provide to them, but she never let them ejaculate in her mouth, and she almost bit Ron's dick off when he tried to force her to, so under the old magic's definition (never having had anyone ejaculate within the bounds of her body's energy field) she was still a virgin.

Percy had had enough intelligence to understand the consequences of interfering with his mother's plans, so he'd always kept any acts which may do so to the young Muggle girls that they used and abused, then obliviated and dumped back in the Muggle cities on the times that Albus Jones took him out of class to further his 'education' with. Molly, Albus and Percy paid no mind to the fact that many of those girls were even further abused by _other_ perverts after they had been dumped back there in that state, because they were especially vulnerable while they were wandering around with no idea of who or where they were…. After all they weren't _people_ , they were nothing but common _Muggles_ , and as such they were put there to give proper Purebloods whatever they desired! (Like those other infamous Half-Blood Megalomaniacs of their world whom he was in bed with, Gellert Grindelwald and Tom Riddle, in his twisted mind, Albus Dumbledore had been a doyen of the Pureblood world.)

 ** _Unpleasantness concluded._**

Ginny was taken to the Goblin mind healers to have as many of those memories and other damage as possible removed, and they added another room to Dora and Sue's trunk flat for her. Her inheritance test showed that the dormant Druidess line of the Ancient Druid House of Morag had been reactivated in her, so to protect her, male and female magical betrothals were accepted between her, as Head of the Ancient Druid House of Morag, and Nev, as Head of the Ancient Druid House of Ifan.

Fred and George also moved into the group, and discussions were under way to get their girlfriends and best friends to come in with them, so they were talking to the Johnson, Bell, Spinnet and Jordan families about that. This move upset Oliver Wood, the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, because it meant that most of his team would be living in Corvus Tower (as Fred and George were their two beaters and Angelina, Alicia and Katie were the three chasers, which just left him as the keeper and an as yet undetermined seeker since Charlie Weasley had left earlier that year). Two more trunk flats were added for Fred, George and Lee, and Angelina, Alicia and Katie, these were permanently linked to each other's as well as to Ulfr and Snorri's.

Amelia was preparing a case against Molly and her now Squib sons, but it would take time to put the evidence together because she had many higher priority cases to deal with first. The potions that Molly sent to Ginny to use on Harry, the memories of what she ordered her daughter to do before she went to Hogwarts and the medical evidence of what she'd been doing to Arthur for decades would be the foundations for the case against her.

* * *

The first breakfast after Ginny joined their group, they decided to put on a bit of a show, so Ginny, Fred and George joined them at the Hufflepuff table, and Angela, Sirius, Remus, Alastor and the Goblin guards dropped their disillusionments to join them as well. As expected, as soon as Jones entered the Great Hall and saw them there, he charged across the Hall to try and expel them from Hogwarts.

He started on Ginny first… "What are you doing here in Hogwarts robes Miss Weasley? You know that you are not old enough to begin at Hogwarts yet! And Lupin, I will _not_ allow a werewolf or goblins to be here in Hogwarts! I demand that you leave immediately!…."

As usual, Harry's quiet voice as he cut him off carried into every corner of the Great Hall. "Be quiet Jones! It would appear that Madam Bones was correct when she pointed out that your faculties have deserted you! It was only yesterday that you were formally advised that you no longer hold any role other than a common professor and were once again reminded of your duty to make yourself aware of the rules of the Hogwarts Charter and abide by them! Miss Weasley, Champion Lupin and our Goblin Guard have _at least_ as much right as you do to be here at Hogwarts, probably more as _their_ presence is not hanging by a thread at this point!..." He paused to make the old fool sweat a little.

"Miss Weasley has been enrolled under the _incontrovertible_ Hogwarts Charter rules which _require_ young witches and wizards to begin their magical education as soon as they start displaying their magic repeatedly to ensure that they do not become a danger to themselves and others! Miss Weasley has formally joined the Corvus Group and will be residing in Corvus Tower with us. Messrs Weasley and Weasley have also joined the group and accommodation in Corvus Tower. If you had been doing your duty back when you had a role in running Hogwarts you would have seen and understood this, but it is now obvious that you do not even meet the requirements of the ordinary teacher that you have been demoted to….." He allowed another pause before he went on to emphasise just how deep a hole the old fool had dug himself into.

"As for Champion Lupin… I believe that your current position on this merits further investigation _Mister_ Jones, seeing as you as Headmaster allowed him to attend Hogwarts with full knowledge of his supposed condition twenty years ago, going so far as to specifically create facilities for him to stay in under the full moon and having the Hogwarts Healer treat him for the symptoms…" He caught Jones biting off an exclamation that there was nothing _supposed_ about it, Lupin _was_ a werewolf, so even if he hadn't actually been involved in Remus getting infected, and he wouldn't put it past a bastard like this, having him come to Hogwarts infected with lycanthropy had _definitely_ been part of some grand plan he had. "yyeeessss…. I must say it is _highly_ suspicious, given that Saint Mungo's has now _formally_ tested Champion Lupin and certified him as being completely free of any sign of lycanthropy infections, so someone must have been deliberately using potions, compulsions and Confoundus charms on him since he was five to convince him and everyone else that the induced symptoms he was showing meant that he actually _was_ a werewolf! We would hate to think that anyone could be so _Dark_ as to do such an _Evil_ thing to an innocent child, but then we all know what was done to the Boy Who Lived for the last ten years, _don't_ we _Mister_ Jones? An investigation into the Werewolf Registry has commenced but it is now clear to me that that investigation needs to be expanded!…."

"Speaking of investigations, I hear that another one has been started to look into why the ICW has been keeping your dear, sweet Gellert alive and well in Nurmengard since Nineteen Forty Five Albus…. It seems that a number of senior ICW officials have been keeping the prison open all this time just for him under the orders of someone who recently lost his influence over them. Some of the European Ministries were reportedly quite angry when they discovered that they cannot recover the _millions_ of galleons that have been wasted operating that prison for nearly half a century, just so that someone could enjoy occasional conjugal visits with his ex lover…. so angry in fact that I hear some of them are now threatening to take it out of the erstwhile Supreme Mugwump's hide, and Madam Bones has been advised to instruct the DMLE to step aside if that happens to minimise the collateral damage…." The look of cold malice on Harry's face as he told everyone in the Great Hall the erstwhile Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of the ICW's dirtiest secrets made it clear that this was no _boy_ talking…. And some students were already running out of the Great Hall, anxious to be the first to get this momentous news out so their families could gain advantage from it.

"Anyway _Mister_ Jones….When you were hired to teach at Hogwarts in Thirty One and again when you were elevated to the Deputy Headmaster's position ten years later, and then the Headmaster's position in Forty Five, you swore an oath to comply with and enforce all the rules of the Hogwarts Charter, so the fact that you are now trying to have my Champion and Goblin Guard expelled from Hogwarts shows that you wilfully lied when you made those oaths, because it clearly states in the Hogwarts Charter that the Heads and Heirs of any Most Ancient House have the right to require private accommodation and facilities for themselves and their retinues and staff…. _and_ to be accompanied by their Champions and guards wherever they go. Champion Lupin is _my_ Champion and Lady Granger, Lady Bones, Lord Longbottom and the other Ladies also have their Champions here, along with our Goblin Guards of course. If you ever try to suggest that there is _anything_ illegal or inappropriate in making use of the services of the superior guards offered by the Goblin Nation, rest assured that every Noble, Druid and Minor House and Family who makes use of their services will learn of your prejudice!"

Jones' ego couldn't let this stand, so he tried to use the one thing that didn't appear to be covered by this out of spite. "The Weasleys are not Heads and Heirs of a Most Ancient House! They must return to their regular dormitories and classes immediately!"

The exasperated and disappointed look on Harry's face told Jones that this wasn't over yet as he snapped. "What part of _'retinue'_ don't you understand Jones? The Houses of Weasley and Prewett are both vassals of the House of Potter, so anyone with any understanding of the laws of Magical Britain would know that all members of those houses are _also_ Vassals of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter and therefore classed as part of my retinue! Even if they weren't, _you_ don't have any authority to demand _anything_ …. I'm of half a mind to have my Champion challenge you to a duel here and now and have him put an end to your lies and innuendo!"

Jones suddenly began to realise what he had done, so he ran away without another word. He started jumping whenever a door banged open as it dawned on him just what Harry had told everyone in the Great Hall and he realised what the old Houses of Europe would do to the wizard who'd so gleefully taken any and all rewards that were offered for eliminating the threat of Gellert Grindelwald when in fact he'd only captured him through trickery and then made them secretly keep him alive and well in Nurmengard because he couldn't stand the thought of losing his lover…. Tom and Gilderoy had been enjoyable diversions that he'd been drawn to because they had Gellert's looks and personality in the time since then, but they'd never really measured up to his Gellert.

* * *

There was the expected muttering from Jones and Selwyn when they discovered that they _wouldn't_ be teaching the fabled boy who lived, because that was the primary reason that Slughorn agreed to come out of retirement, and Jones had been planning to use his access to the boy to recover his standing….. well he _had_ been, up until he discovered that Alastor had stripped away _all_ of his knowledge of Mind Magic so he couldn't manipulate the boy that way any more.

Both of them were looking at Alastor as the only one who could possibly have had the Legilimency skills and strength to strip away all traces of knowledge of the things they'd used to rise to their positions of prominence. They knew the boy had used some ancient magical laws to take everything else from them, but that was nothing more than having the necessary ancient blood lines, obviously someone had tracked him down and trained him in how to use those ancient laws, but there was no way that a child like _h_ _im_ could have ever overpowered their minds like that!

Harry had transferred the magic (and therefore magical knowledge) taken from Percy Weasley to Arabella, and what was taken from Marcus Flint to Hagrid. Percy was magically stronger than Flint, so this gave Arabella's magic a bigger boost, and his knowledge of general magic was as good if not better than Flint's, even though he was a year after him, so Arabella took the Fourth year exams and joined the Fifth year classes. Hagrid had enough magical strength that Flint's weak magic wasn't a problem, and between his and Flint's magical knowledge, he passed his OWLs almost straight away with a little coaching, so he joined the Sixth year classes. The others also agreed that the hexes and curses that Flint had learned as part of a Dark House would be more useful to Hagrid as he would be more likely to need to fight than Arabella.

* * *

Training Hagrid to fight was part of the reason that Olag was attached to Ulfr and Snorri's command, as Olag was a Karl. The Karls were created to manage the trolls in the service of the Goblin Nations, they were far quicker and _far_ more intelligent and agile than any normal trolls, while retaining their size, strength and resistance to magic. On top of that, they were capable of training to increase their skills and strength. As well as being stronger, faster and more skilled than trolls though, trolls were pre-disposed to obey the Karls, just as the Hobgoblins were pre-disposed to obey the Thanes and Common Elves were pre-disposed to obey the Reeves, and they had the need to deal with trolls in Albus Bloody Dumbledore's past and _future_ plans for the Philosopher's stone.

A troll had been incorporated into Dumbledore's original planned 'protection' for the Philosopher's Stone, but while the troll was not there _yet_ , Harry had seen in Dumbledore's mind that parts of his preparations for getting it into Hogwarts had involved interfering with Hogwarts' wards. The problem there was that Dumbledore had already been interfering with her wards for nearly half a century, and he was far from the first Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts who had done so to further their own plans... What it came down to was that there was no way of properly dealing with a millennium of tampering without tearing the wards down completely and rebuilding them from scratch, and the Founders' knowledge said that this would most probably destroy Hogwarts' memories and almost certainly interfere with her personality, it might even 'kill' her as a thinking entity, and that was not something that any of them was prepared to risk.

Will the goblins' assistance, Harry and Hermione (as the Founders' Heirs) _were_ working with Hogwarts to try and close the holes in her wards, concentrating on the most dangerous ones first. They'd already added wards to identify and destroy Riddle's dark mark and were close to getting the wards to do the same with other dark objects and dark creatures such as dementors and inferi working. Gringott was implementing these wards at Gringotts and Amelia had plans to quietly implement them as perimeter wards around Azkaban to contain anyone with the dark mark and dementors inside Azkaban as soon as they got them working, because the island was located on top of a ley lines like Hogwarts, Gringotts and the Ministry of Magic building, so the ley lines powered the wards. Amelia thought it was a delicious (if slightly evil) touch to make wearing magic suppressing shackles that shut off _all_ the wearer's magic the _only_ way to mitigate the agony of having the dark mark burnt off by the wards. Once they had Hogwarts' and Gringotts' wards working to properly deal with dark objects and creatures, they planned to do what they could to get equivalent wards working around Magical Britain and the Goblin Nations, and share them with allies further abroad as well. **  
**

Harry had also seen in Jones' mind that he still had ideas about using a troll as a distraction to allow him to retrieve what he believed to be the real Philosopher's Stone, and _that_ would put the students at risk, so they had Olag move in with a trunk flat specifically made for him to command the troll to leave without harming anyone if possible, and help destroy it if not. It would of course have been both cruel and dangerous to leave 'Fluffy' (only Hagrid would call a horse sized Cerberus 'Fluffy') locked up in the castle to serve as the first line of defence for the stone, so they replaced him with a Simulacrum and he now spent his time going between Bran Holm, Castle Du (the ancestral home of the House of Black, which they'd lost to the goblins and lost all memory of in one of the Goblin Wars because they'd decided that the goblins were their's to do with as they would and the goblins didn't agree) and Gringotts, where he guarded some of the vaults.

* * *

Aside from the six Gryffindor Third Years who mostly kept to their old schedules aside from changing electives, they had most of their meals in the Great Hall and spent quite a bit of time in the library, but they weren't taking Astronomy, Defence against the Dark Arts or Potions classes with the other students, and Jones and Selwyn weren't covering any of the Transfiguration, Charms or Care of Magical Creatures classes _they_ were taking. There were quite a few questions about why First Years were taking electives like Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Culture of Magical Britain and why they were in Second Year classes for some subjects, but seeing most of their First Year exam results for half of the core subjects shut those complaining up. Even Ginny had learnt enough through reading her brothers' text books and secret coaching from Bill, Charlie and the twins that she managed to sit her exams and progress to Second Year with the others.

They only had one Flying Lesson, and that was enough to have Madam Hooch talk Minerva into lifting the ban on First Years playing on the House Quidditch teams, so Ginny replaced Charlie as Gryffindor's Seeker, Harry became Hufflepuff's Seeker and Dora became a Chaser on the Hufflepuff team. Oliver was even more perturbed when the rest of his team refused to practice any more than they needed to, citing their greater need for study, and he couldn't force the issue when they were in Corvus Tower. He _was_ mollified to see that the only Seeker who could match or beat Ginny was Harry, and the rest of their team worked well enough together that they didn't need much practice to keep their edge.

* * *

Ginny became distraught and begged to see her father when she received a package from her mother a couple of weeks after she joined them, and they were all relieved that she had passed the test. That package was of course the love and loyalty potions that she was meant to use on Harry, and after she was shown the memories of what she'd done in the other timeline, she completely agreed with the need to be tested. The potions and memories she supplied helped build the case against her mother, and by the beginning of October they had everything they needed to prosecute her. Both Hermione and Daphne had had their twelfth birthdays by then, but Harry had promised to properly celebrate their birthdays once all this shite was done with.

When Molly Weasley was dragged into Court Room Ten with Percy and Ron, she was confident that Albus would save them, he was relying her too much for his plans to let anything happen to her and therefore her sons, it _was_ a worry that she hadn't had a chance to contact him since she was arrested, but Albus was the Chief Warlock and the greatest wizard in the world, he would save her…..

Her confidence in her saviour came crashing down around her ears when she saw that Griselda Marchbanks and Tiberius Ogden were sitting at the Chief Warlock's bench and Albus was nowhere to be seen. Even more shocking was the sight of Bill and Charlie sitting at the Wizengamot benches, Arthur and Ginny sitting at the witness bench and an uncommonly serious Fred and George in the gallery. She was pushed into one of the accuseds' chairs and wrapped in its chains before she could try to go to them and silenced when she tried to call out to them.

The next couple of hours were one big horrible nightmare for Molly as she was forced to confess to everything she had done under Veritaserum, including the assistance that Albus gave her to trap and keeping Arthur under their control since they were at Hogwarts, and what they'd done to prepare Ginny for her planned role in taking the wealth and power of the House of Potter, as well as preparing Percy and Ronald to do their parts in the plan. The confessions and memories that had been taken from Percy and Ronald the first night at Hogwarts, the memories and testimonies freely given under Veritaserum by Arthur and Ginny, the evidence of the potions and charms found when Arthur and Ginny were examined and the potions she'd been sending to Ginny to use on Harry Potter made it an open and shut case against her. The inheritance tests which proved that Percy and Ronald _weren't_ Arthur Weasley's sons just increased the line theft charges and added adultery and forcing the House of Weasley to raise two other wizards' bastards to the charges. Arthur, as Head of the now Noble and Ancient House of Weasley (they'd acquired a barony as part of the previous settlements) and Charlie, as head of the Noble House of Prewett, formally cast Molly, Percy and Ron out of both houses, and Charlie also cast his Great Aunt Muriel out of the House of Prewett for knowingly assisting in Molly's crime of line theft against the Noble and Ancient House of Weasley.

Molly was confused when Harry Potter stood in the Potter box, but she tried to wail at him to stop from under the silencing spell when he spoke. "Under the Ancient House rules of the Wizards Council I, Duke Henry James Potter of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter claim restitution on behalf of the Noble and Ancient House of Weasley! On the charges of line theft and adultery, in addition to whatever sentence imposed by this court... I hereby terminate the marriage of Arthurus Septimus Weasley to Molly Prewett and order that any and all magic, titles, holdings, property, wealth and belongings of the witch formerly known as Molly Weasley are hereby forfeit to Arthurus Septimus Weasley and she is to have any and all memories of anything to do with the Weasley and Prewett families removed. On the charge of Line Theft, I further order that any and all titles, holdings, property, wealth and belongings of the witch formerly known as Muriel Prewett are hereby forfeit to the Noble and Ancient House of Weasley and she is to have any and all memories of anything to do with the Weasley and Prewett families removed."

"For knowingly committing adultery with Molly Weasley, wife of Arthurus Septimus Weasley, and forcing the House of Weasley to bear the cost and shame of raising his son, the Squib formerly known as Ronald Bilius Weasley, who disgraced the House of Weasley with his previous crimes…. I order that one third of all holdings, property, wealth and belongings of Cornelius Fudge and the Minor House of Fudge are hereby forfeit to the Noble and Ancient House of Weasley. Furthermore, the Squib formerly known as Ronald Bilius Weasley is to have any and all memories of anything to do with the Weasley and Prewett families removed and Cornelius Fudge is to formally accept him into the Fudge family and raise as his son, Ronald Fudge. Cornelius Fudge must also formally accept into the Fudge family and raise his daughter, the witch formerly known as Millicent Bulstrode, as Millicent Fudge. The Squib formerly known as Percival Ignatius Weasley is _also_ to have any and all memories of anything to do with the Weasley and Prewett families removed, but as he has already lost his magic for his other crimes, the House of Crouch has been eradicated and forfeited all its holdings and wealth and his father, Bartemius Crouch Senior, has been sentenced to life in Azkaban…. he is also to have any and all memories of the Magical World removed before he is inserted into Muggle Britain under the new identity of Percy Jones. _So Mote It Be!"_

Hermione and the others quietly repeated _"_ _So Mote It Be!"_ to have the decree accepted by the magic of the court and Molly passed out as she lost her magic, while Percy and Ron started looking around, as they had no idea of why they were there, wrapped in chains, or why being Percy Jones and Ronald Fudge didn't feel right for some reason.

Griselda frowned at Harry, as the fact that the accused no longer had any idea of who they were or what they did before made the sentencing more difficult, but Percy and Ron were taken from the court room before Molly No-Name was sentenced to ten years in Azkaban for the Line Theft Charges, plus five years more for each of the sons she had by adulterous affairs and made her erstwhile husband raise. No-one expected her to last a year in there without her magic, let alone twenty.

Fudge tried to say that Harry's decrees weren't legal, that he wouldn't accept either of those children into his family and that he demanded that everything taken from him be returned immediately, with an additional ten percent being paid to him in compensation but Harry just laughed at him and asked the Chief Witch and Chief Warlock for a ruling on the matter.

Tiberius answered, because Griselda was obviously winding up to explode. "Minister Fudge, we have seen incontrovertible evidence that you knowingly committed adultery with the wife of Baron Weasley, and that you ordered her to have your son raised by Baron Weasley, as his own, and _your_ son has _also_ publicly brought the name of the Noble and Ancient House of Weasley into disrepute! In addition to that, the inheritance test that your daughter took is accepted throughout the Magical World as proof of parentage so you cannot deny it. My understanding is that the restriction against the Wizengamot prosecuting you for crimes committed while you are Minister for Magic does not apply here, because you _weren't_ the Minister for Magic until last year, and you have gotten off lightly here so I would suggest that you formally accept your children and the penalties imposed as ordered and take your son home before the Wizengamot decides to also try you for adultery, forcing the Houses of Weasley and Bulstrode to raise your son and daughter and bringing the name of a Noble and Ancient House into disrepute."

Fudge obviously wanted to argue this until the solicitor he came into the court room pulled him aside to whisper furiously at him until he nodded angrily and stomped out of the court room.

* * *

As soon as he was gone, Sirius stood and proposed that automatic sentences in Azkaban be imposed for _any_ use of Love, Lust or Loyalty potions and equivalent compulsion spells on any child or adult of Magical Britain unless they were used by specified professionals with specific written authorisation, pointing out that the vast majority of usages of the Imperious Curse incurred an automatic life sentence, so other things used with similar intentions should _also_ incur automatic penalties. With Arthur and Harry's permission he pointed out that the targets in the current case had been the Head of a Noble and Ancient House, and more importantly the Head and Heir of more than one _Most_ Noble and _Most_ Ancient _Houses,_ so if the Line Theft plot against Duke Potter had gotten much further, the mandatory sentence would have been _death_. This made the Wizengamot members stop and think, and they agreed then that imposing automatic sentences to ward off a serious crime with harsher penalties _was_ a better option, so the proposal was passed.

While he was on a roll, Sirius also proposed that the Minister for Magic and Chief Warlock or Chief Witch's exemptions from prosecution or investigation for any crimes committed while they held those positions be revoked, effective immediately, and with the new Chief Witch and Chief Warlock heartily agreeing that this law's existence was a travesty of justice and that _no-one_ should be exempt from facing justice for their actions, this also passed.

The next morning, the Daily Prophet carried the story, but the editor had had a visit from the Director of the DMLE, Chief Witch and Warlock and some of the most powerful people in Magical Britain, so all of the facts were reported accurately without any of the parties concerned being identified. The outrage over the idea of automatic sentencing of anyone, no matter what age, to Azkaban for using potions or spells meant to take away another's free choice (except where used in an official capacity with proper authorisation on file) was easily countered with Sirius' argument, that the foundation laws were being applied in Magical Britain now, so a few months or years in Azkaban was obviously preferable to a life, or perhaps even _death_ sentence! A follow up article to that effect in the Prophet had potioners and apothecaries across Magical Britain immediately destroying any and all potions they had which may come under the new laws and potion and spell books being revised to remove anything of that nature.

* * *

The standing of Arthur Weasley and the Houses of Weasley and Prewett actually rose considerably as a result of the trial…. For a start, what Fudge forfeited to the House of Weasley was enough to make them quite a wealthy house (which of course had the DMLE looking into where Fudge had gotten that much money), their erstwhile Great Aunt Muriel had also had more money than the rest of the Prewett and Weasley families put together, so even at post Purge prices, selling off the Burrow and a few other properties left them _quite_ well off. After getting his family's thoughts on the matter, Arthur purchased a building in Diagon Alley that had become available because of the earlier Purge. It included multi level living quarters upstairs that were more than big enough to take his still large by Magical Standards family comfortably, and a shop downstairs that would serve quite well for the twins' dream of making a living from following in their Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon's footsteps as pranksters and jokers... Arthur quite liked the idea of both making his sons' dream come true _and_ honouring the memory of loveable larrikin brothers in law.

The way Arthur and his children had deported themselves in the face of the disgusting tales of villainy, betrayal and debauchery told in the trial had gained them a lot of respect, and many noted that Arthur was a new man now that he was out from under the potions and spells that they'd been using to keep him under their control. Many in the Wizengamot had _also_ noted that Arthur had acquired powerful friends in the Wizard Council Alliance (as it came to be known), and the upshot of this was that when they dragged the arrogant and corrupt Pureblood in charge of the Goblin Liaison Office in front of the Wizengamot to explain why he was demanding that the goblins give him a cut of the funds that had been transferred as a result of the Wizard Council law decrees, claiming that it was a new Ministry tax a week later, they voted for Arthur to replace the man when he was permanently dismissed.

Fudge tried to stop both the dismissal and Arthur's promotion of course, but he and his cronies were forcibly reminded that the Ministry of Magic was nothing more than the administrative body of the Wizengamot, and that the Wizengamot could install or remove anyone they wanted. They were given a simple but effective demonstration by way of also permanently dismissing a few of Fudge's other cronies and closing their offices down because they never did anything, like the Werewolf Capture Unit and Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, which were incorporated into the DMLE where they always should have been. Other stupid offices like the Official Gobstones Club and Ludicrous Patents Office were just closed and the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office was incorporated into the Improper Use of Magic Office, which Amelia now kept a closer eye on, demanding to see copies of _everything_ that entered or left the office. Between showing them how easily they could be fired and banned from ever working with or for the Ministry again and quietly reminding Fudge that they could still use Veritaserum to make the man tell who had put him up to using fake taxes to try and steal other people's money, Fudge and his cronies all shut up and grudgingly congratulated Arthur on his promotion.


	10. Harry Potter and the Placebo Stone

**NB: A paragraph was added to Finding Your Feet to explain that Harry and Hermione are working with the Goblins to try and fix Hogwarts' wards as much as they can, so that they can detect and destroy the Dark Mark and they're getting close to doing the same with other dark objects and dark creatures.**

 **In this world, the family magics can add quite a bit to a witch or wizard's magic, especially if it's the family magic of a magically powerful house. Most of the Most Ancient Houses have had the almost godlike** ** _aes sídhe_ bloodlines mingling with them for over two thousand years at this point as the Druid Lords and High Druids were the human equivalents of the goblins' Thanes and elves' Reeves, so ******the Most Ancient Houses** are by far the most powerful houses magically. **

**Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

None of the current students in the Corvus Group had ever taken Care of Magical Creatures with Professor Kettleburn as Dora had taken Arithmancy and Ancient Runes as her electives before (while she may have played up too much to get a Prefect's badge, she _was_ a serious student), but it didn't take them long to understand why Charlie had been so dismissive of him, because he was useless! Even Selwyn taught the subject better and the students learned more from Hagrid than they did from the Professor when he was assisting Kettleburn.

This forced them to change their plans for Care of Magical Creatures after Molly's trial. The original idea had been to have Hagrid fill in as Assistant Professor until he'd passed his NEWTs, and maybe gotten his mastery in Magical Creatures, then take over as Care of Magical Creatures Professor like he did in the other timeline (only it wouldn't be a bribe to keep quiet about being to sent to Azkaban just so that the Ministry could be 'seen to be doing something' this time), but Kettleburn was just too pathetic to saddle Hogwarts' students with. Pomona and Minerva were delighted when Harry and Hermione pointed out that Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank had been a good Care of Magical Creatures teacher from what they'd seen of her in the times she'd been been brought in in the other timeline, because Pomona especially had been friends with her when they went through Hogwarts together. This in turn simplified matters quite a bit because Willie accepted without any hesitation when Pomona offered her the position of Care of Magical Creatures Professor at Hogwarts as Hogwarts' Deputy Headmistress. The next time Kettleburn had an accident after that (he had them often enough that they didn't have to wait long), Minerva had little trouble convincing him to accept retirement and Willie took over.

With a competent Care of Magical Creatures Professor and Hagrid assisting her, they dropped Magical Creatures off Selwyn's duties, but had him covering more of Pomona's Herbology classes because he had masteries in both Potions and Herbology. Willie added another Ancient Druid House to the Wizards Council Alliance in the Wizengamot, because she was Head of the Ancient Druid House of Gruffydd and Pomona and Minerva's confidence in her was enough to have her added to the group.

* * *

They were halfway through the Halloween Feast and Harry was starting to believe that his Halloween Curse hadn't followed him to this timeline when Arabella suddenly jumped up and hurried to Minerva's side, with Hagrid and Filius following her. Minerva activated her communications mirror so that the rest of them could hear what was said. Arabella had her kneazles patrolling the areas of the castle where they thought the troll may turn up and Mr Tibbles had just let her know that he saw _several_ trolls in the dungeon.

It took a bit to convince Angela, Remus, Dora, Dobby and four of the goblin guards to stay there there to guard the rest of their party and help guard the rest of the students while Harry, Hermione, Sirius, Alastor, Efa, Emyr, Ulfr and Snorri popped out and Hagrid and Filius slipped out in the confusion when Minerva stood to announce that there were trolls in the castle, so all students were to remain in the Great Hall, but they managed. Once they were clear of the Great Hall they joined up with Olag, the five mngwas and the other eight goblin guards as they headed for the dungeon.

With the magical boost she'd received from the bonding ritual with the most powerful wizard alive, the consorts' magic and having the full adult versions of the family magics of four Most Ancient Heads of House, four Most Ancient House Consorts and one Ancient House Heiress being unlocked by the magical coming of age that was part of their magical marriages, Hermione was probably the most magically powerful in the group after Harry, and maybe Hagrid, so the Angela and Remus didn't argue about her going while they stayed to guard the others. Garrick had made her two new wands that worked for her and were capable of handling the power of the family magics of eight of the most Magically powerful Houses of Magical Britain and the House of Moody being added to her own, an ebony wand with three braided dragon heart strings from the same dragon, and an apple wand with seven braided unicorn tail hairs. They had been both amused and intrigued by how well her wands complemented Harry's rowan wand with three braided phoenix feathers and Elder Wand with seven braided thestral tail hairs.

Harry swore and tried to think of a suitable way to make Albus Jones pay for this when they saw the trolls, because Mr Tibbles' 'several trolls' turned out to be _seven_ fully grown mountain trolls, and they were _hungry_! The trolls' hunger overrode their predilection to obey Karls like Olag _and_ made them much more aggressive, so they were going to have to fight them, but while they certainly had the power to blast the trolls to pieces, they didn't want to risk damaging Hogwarts, so Harry put his right hand up, calling the Sword of Gryffindor to him. (The sword had been better known as Beowulf's magical sword Nægling before it was remade into the Sword of Gryffindor. Its brother sword, Hrunting, had been remade into the Sword of Slytherin at the same time, the only significant differences between them being the fact that the Slytherin Sword's hilt had emeralds set in silver instead of rubies set in gold, the carvings on the hilts and the names engraved on the goblin silver blades). Olag unslung a pair of giant goblin forged battle axes from his back, tossing one to Hagrid, and Ulfr, Snorri, Filius and the other goblins readied their swords and axes when the Sword of Gryffindor blazed into existence in Harry's hand, while the others drew their wands to do what they could.

The magical sword's properties outweighed Ulfr, Snorri and even Hagrid and Olag's greater strength and Harry was trying to kill the troll in front of him as quickly and humanely as he could when Hermione warned him through their link that another troll was about to grab him from behind, even Crookshanks in his mngwa form clawing at its back wasn't enough to stop it from going after its intended prey. Harry threw out his left hand (as Salazar was left handed) and called the Sword of Slytherin to him, making the troll draw back briefly from the sting of the magical blade biting into its forearm. That gave him enough of an opening to plunge the Sword of Gryffindor through the first troll's heart, twisting it before he turned back to use the Sword of Slytherin two handed, cutting off the massive paws that were reaching for him again first, and then the troll's head.

Harry fell to his knees as the adrenalin rush left him so Hermione rushed to his side with Crookshanks, anxiously demanding to know whether he was hurt. He looked around as he reassured her and thanked Crookshanks for his help, seeing that all the trolls were finished and the others had started vanishing their hacked up bodies. Hagrid hobbled over to check that Harry was alright, stopping to retrieve the Sword of Gryffindor from the first troll's corpse on the way. It turned out that 'his' and Filius' troll had managed to hit him in the leg with its club before they finished it off, but luckily nothing was broken. Olag had put down his troll without much trouble and the other goblins and mngwas had handled the last three. Harry made quite a sight, standing there covered in troll blood, holding the two swords in one hand as he had one arm around Hermione. Three of the goblins and Bastet had also been injured in the fighting, but none of them were hurt beyond a few broken bones which were quickly healed, so all in all it had been a successful battle

* * *

As soon as the trolls' body parts and most of the blood had been vanished, they popped back to Corvus Tower to get cleaned up and put on clean clothes, because most of them were covered in troll blood. Hagrid limped straight to Minerva with Filius to tell her the trolls had been dealt with as soon as they returned to the Great Hall (though Arabella had already passed on the news from Mr Tibbles) and she stood to announce that the danger had passed and the students could now leave the Great Hall if they wished. Harry, Hermione, Sirius, Alastor, Efa, Emyr, Ulfr and Snorri popped back into the Great Hall in a disillusioned state and Harry, Hermione, Sirius and Alastor removed their disillusionments once they'd returned to their seats at the table.

They noted the fact that Jones was missing and Hogwarts advised through their link to Merlin that he'd gone after the stone. He was reportedly quite surprised and worried when he tried to blast Fluffy to pieces and discovered that it was just a simulacrum rather than the real cerebus, but had been relieved to see that the other 'defences' were still in place. He'd apparently gotten to the stone and was now exalting about it in his quarters.

Neville and the girls shuddered at the evil laugh Harry gave at that news, so he had to explain that the 'Elixir of Life' that _th_ _at_ stone could produce would do nothing more than give whoever drank it a sense of well being for a day or so. The Flamels hadn't tested it enough to determine whether it would be addictive, or whether there were any other harmful side effects associated with it, because they'd tossed the stone in with the other failures and moved on as soon as they confirmed that it was just another failed attempt. He admitted that he was actually hoping that there _w_ _ould_ be harmful side effects, because Jones would be sure to use it to try and regain the vitality and wealth he'd lost with much of his magic, added to the fact that he'd been behind seven _hungry_ Mountain Trolls being released into a school full of children with almost certain serious loss of life, him dying a slow and painful death as a result of his own avarice seemed to be a fitting end. "So I'm rather hoping that he just puts the continued fading of the effects down to the fact that his life force will need to be rebuilt over time and keeps using it."

Hermione gave an evil grin as she thought about the old bastard getting his comeuppance for what he'd done to so many people, especially Harry, but that grin faded as she stopped and asked. "What about gold though, he can't create gold with that stone can he?"

Harry laughed again. "No Mione, you can't even create gold with the _real_ Philosopher's Stone, everyone just heard what they wanted to hear when Nicolas was saying that what the Philosopher's Stone created would _make_ them a lot of gold, which it most certainly has. That stone that Jones has can't create _anything_ properly….." He stopped and grinned. "He thinks he's managed to outsmart the Flamels and everyone else to get control of the Philosopher's Stone, but all he has is the _Placebo_ Stone!"

They all burst out laughing at that, and Alastor went up to let Minerva and the others in on the joke when they looked at them in confusion, and their laughter was at least as loud. Selwyn had learned by painful example _not_ to try and get close enough to listen in on what the core group (or _The Coven_ as he'd labelled them, because Filius and Hagrid were the only men in that group and he was enough of a Pureblood bigot to regard Half-Breeds like them as nothing but _creatures_ who didn't deserve to be called men) was discussing, so he was as much in the dark as Albus was.

* * *

As they were heading back to Corvus Tower after the feast, most of the others were shocked when Harry said that compared to most of his Halloweens, this one hadn't been too bad. "How can you say that? You had to fight Mountain Trolls!"

Hermione laughed at that. "Didn't you know? That was how we became friends in the..." she stopped when she realised that it wasn't safe to talk where they were. "I'll tell you in the Tower."

That made everyone hurry up and once Efa and Emyr had brought in Minerva, Filius, Pomona, Poppy, Hagrid, Gringott, Amelia and Saul and they were all settled, with a goblin pensieve ready for visual aids, they showed the others the memories of that night's battle with the trolls in the dungeon, then Hermione took up the story again. "In the last timeline, Harry had come into this world straight from that disgusting family so he was seduced by the idea of making a friend for the very first time in his life, and he had been set up to believe that that git was his best mate. I ran off crying when Ronald said some horrible things about me after our Charms class on Halloween, and I was still crying in a girls' bathroom when the others were at their Halloween Feast…."

Harry took up the tale there. "I asked where Hermione was when I couldn't see her at the feast and Nev told me that one of the girls had said she was crying in the girls' bathroom on the second floor. A bit later Quirrell burst into the Great Hall, crying out 'Troll! In the dungeon! Just thought you'd like to know.' and then did a very bad acting job when he supposedly fainted. Dumbledore ordered the prefects to take all the students back to their common rooms, which was a very irresponsible thing to do, seeing as the Hufflepuff and Slytherin common rooms were in the dungeons where the troll supposedly was…." he shook his head as he remembered that. "But for some reason no-one questioned it, they just did as they were told. As we were heading back to the Gryffindor tower I suddenly remembered about Hermione and realised that she didn't know about the troll, so I went to get her. I forced the git to come with me, seeing as _he_ was the reason she was in danger in the first place."

"Anyway, we got there just in time to see the troll going into a bathroom and I was hoping against hope that Hermione was in a _different_ bathroom when she screamed. I had to physically drag the git in there with me and when we got inside, the troll had Hermione trapped up the other end of the bathroom, it was smashing up all the sinks and stalls that were in the way when it tried to hit her with its club and it was getting closer and closer to her so I started throwing things at it and shouting to try and get its attention away from Hermione and told the git to do the same. That wasn't working so I jumped on its back…."

He was cut off by just about everyone screaming " ** _You WHAT?_** "

Hermione nodded grimly. " _You heard him!_ This magnificent and utterly crazy _idiot_ jumped onto the back of a Mountain Troll that I'm sure was even bigger than the ones we faced tonight and started hitting it around the head! And don't forget that he was _much_ smaller then than he is this time around!"

Harry gave her a hug because the memory of that sight was making her cry and took up the story again. "Hitting it wasn't doing any good so I grabbed my wand, but I suddenly realised that I didn't know any spells that could stop it because we'd only gotten as far as Wingardium Leviosa. Anyway, while I was being thrown around on its back my wand somehow got stuck up its nose. I seem to remember shouting something like ' ** _Die_ _damn you_ _!_** ', and then the top of its head suddenly exploded so I was covered in troll blood and brains! Uncle Fili said that the only thing he could think of was that my desperation to stop it must have caused a powerful non-verbal reducto charm to be cast, which blew the troll's brains out…."

Hermione took over again. "All I could see from where I was on the floor behind him was blood and brains being sprayed across the ceiling and blood dripping off Harry's hair before they came crashing down hard enough to shake the castle. I was sure that one of the professors must have fired a curse of some kind at the troll and it had killed Harry as well because neither of them were moving, then Harry got up and I ran up to hug him, asking him if he was OK... I was doing that an awful lot over the next seven years! Auntie Minnie, Uncle Fili and Quirrell turned up after that and for some reason I told them that _I'd_ come after the troll and Harry and the git had followed me.… That didn't make _any_ sense so I'd say that Quirrell, or rather Qirrellmort, must have compelled me to take the blame to ensure that if anyone was expelled for being stupid it would be me! Of course _Ronald_ tried to say what a hero _he'd_ been, killing the troll and saving us pretty much single handedly while Harry and I cowered in the corner…."

* * *

They stopped then to show the others their memories of what happened in the bathroom, Harry's was only from when he ran into the bathroom to where he blew the troll's brains out, while Hermione's went from where she came out of the stall to find out where that awful smell was coming from, finishing when they were sent back to Gryffindor tower.

The others were staring at Harry when they came out of the pensieve, because while _this_ Harry was obviously capable of taking on a Mountain Troll, _that_ Harry was a tiny little waif of a boy who didn't really know any magic and didn't know that he could call a magical sword to help him. Astoria was by far the smallest of the current group because she was only ten and being the Heiress to the House of Yowann and betrothed of the Heir to the House of Black wasn't enough to push her apparent age to any more than eleven, but even she was still notably bigger and more robust looking than the figure they saw in that memory. Seeing that tiny figure jumping onto the back of a fully grown Mountain Troll (and Hermione was right, it _was_ bigger than the ones they'd faced that night) to save a girl he'd hardly even spoken to was mind boggling, the fact that they'd come through it largely unhurt and he'd defeated the troll against all odds even more so. They also paid close attention to Quirrell at the end and he'd definitely used eye contact with Hermione to compel her to say that it was her who'd gone after the troll, but Minerva was ashamed of herself for how she'd behaved towards three of her charges, one of whom had just been almost killed by a Mountain Troll and another who had somehow managed to kill that troll single handedly through an incredible display of bravery and magic.

Harry cut in then, because he could see what was going though Minerva's head. "I'm pretty sure that Dumbledore altered all of our memories after that because as far as I know no-one ever looked into how a Mountain Troll had gotten into the castle and how we acted then and afterwards doesn't make any sense in view of our characters and the facts of the matter. I'd say that it's a sure bet that the compulsion, confundus, loyalty and memory charms that Dumbledore has been using on all of us….. shit, probably half of the people in the castle, not to mention anyone else who got in his way, has been going on for _at least_ two generations now, why else would my parents leave the safety of the Potter estate to go live in Godrick's Hollow, why would the Marauders act like such mindless bullies right through school and why would you allow some of your favourite students behave like that without doing anything to correct them Auntie Minnie? Why would you _ever_ agree to let Dumbledore keep something like the Philosopher's Stone in a place where the students could get to it, not to mention the danger that just having something like that in the castle brought to the students, and how could you have missed identifying Riddle's presence when you were around Quirrellmort for nine months, or let Dumbledore send students to the dungeons with nothing but prefects to protect them when there was supposed to be a troll down there?"

The adults all looked at each other and nodded grimly, because this was the only thing that made any sense, but Minerva asked. "After watching _that_ , how could you _ever_ have been sorted anywhere but Gryffindor Harry?"

He smirked at her. "Oh I don't know Auntie Minnie, you _could_ argue that I was just displaying loyalty to my house mate like a good Hufflepuff! I only went into the bathroom after Hermione screamed and didn't resort to attacking the troll until it became obvious that it was the only way to save her."

Pomona said "Here Here!"

Minerva, Neville and the girls were shaking their heads at him but they all burst out laughing.

* * *

Harry turned to Hagrid then. "By the way Hagrid, if you _ever_ get into a card game with a mysterious hooded stranger and he tries to put up an illegal dragon's egg as his stake again, _don't_ take the bloody egg, call the bloody DMLE!"

Hagrid was looking confused. "What?"

Hermione shook her head at Harry. "It was Quirrellmort Hagrid. _Everyone_ knows how much you love dragons so when he got you into a card game with him in the Hogs Head and put up the dragon's egg as a stake you couldn't resist. He used that to wheedle the fact that music will always send Fluffy right off to sleep out of you in order to get past him. That bloody dragon got us in all sorts of trouble! You hatched her and were trying to raise her in your cabin even though you bloody knew it was illegal to raise dragons in Britain... stupid Ronald got himself bitten by her so he was in the infirmary so with his hand all swollen up and Harry and I had to get her up to the astronomy tower by ourselves so that some of Charlie's friends could manage to pick her up and start her on her way to Romania. Thanks to Malfoy and that horrid Filch we got caught and ended up spending the night with you in the Forbidden Forest on detention because something was killing the unicorns. That was _also_ Quirrellmort! He was killing them to drink their blood in an attempt to survive until he could get the Philosopher's Stone... Harry ran into him after Malfoy ran off and left him when they were following the blood trail that an injured unicorn had left, but Firenze the centaur drove Quirrellmort off and saved him."

Harry hugged her again. "Then the next year our Halloween treat was the Chamber of Secrets….. Shit! We still haven't done anything about the basilisk or acromatulas yet!"

That of course got another _" **WHAT?** " _from everyone.

He looked at the older ones. "Do you remember the stories about Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets?"

They nodded and he went on. "It exists, it's under Black lake. You can get into the tunnels that lead to the Chamber from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Slytherin's monster is a thousand year old basilisk that's at least seventy or eighty feet long. Riddle managed to get control of it back in the early Forties, he was planning to use it to cleanse the world of Muggleborns, and I think it kept growing after that because he didn't put it back into stasis when he shut it in the Chamber again. In the last timeline Lucius Malfoy slipped Riddle's diary into Ginny's cauldron when they were getting her books and things for her to come to Hogwarts. It was the first and most powerful of Riddle's horcruxes and she was possessed by Riddle through it…."

He stopped and turned to face Ginny. "You were a lonely girl who'd had no-one to talk to most of the time for years Ginny, because your mother had spent the last three years trying to mould you into the perfect tool to snare me and my fortune. She'd messed up your head so badly that you jumped at the chance of having a friend to talk to, even if it was through a book…. Just remember that that **_isn't_** who you are! Who you are is the person who you did the right thing when she tried to make you play along with her games this time!" Fred put his arm around Ginny to comfort her and when she was OK, Harry went on.

"It wasn't too difficult for Malfoy to get the opportunity because it was bedlam in Flourish and Blotts that day, Gilderoy Bloody Fakehart was having a book signing in the store and he had assigned his full set of seven bedtime story books as the text books for his Defence Against the Dark Arts classes…."

Minerva broke in at that. "Are you telling me that Dumbledore hired that useless bloody peacock to teach _D_ _efence_?"

Harry nodded grimly. "He was so determined to make it easy for Riddle to get rid of me so he could step in and be the saviour again that he was prepared to condemn an entire generation to the same fate…. It was Quirrell possessed by Riddle this year, next year it was a coward and a fake who taught us even less, Third year it was a werewolf, Fourth year it was a Death Eater polyjuiced as Uncle Alastor who taught the unforgivables in class, Fifth Year it was Delores Bloody Umbridge, Sixth Year it was Snape, and Seventh Year it was Amycus Carrow."

Alastor spat out. "How in the seven hells did a known Death Eater come to be teaching Defence _Against_ the Dark Arts?"

"They'd basically taken over by then, they were mostly still hiding in the shadows but they were definitely in control. Riddle had Snape installed as the Headmaster after Dumbledore ran away to sit out the war somewhere safe while anyone who wouldn't declare for Riddle was being tortured or killed."

"Where was Dumbledore?"

"I don't know, as far as I know he refused to tell anyone. When we finally defeated Riddle, he waltzed back in and used his connections to take over again but he'd never explain where he was or why he didn't do anything to help us. He was probably holed up somewhere with a gaggle of boys, or goats if he was really determined to keep it quiet."

"It was Aberforth who had a thing for goats Ladd…." Alastor shut up when Harry shook his head grimly.

"No it bloody well wasn't! Your _dear_ friend Albus cast compulsion and memory charms on everyone and set up the evidence to frame Aberforth for it when he was caught, he testified against his own brother to send him to Azkaban in his place! I got it out of his head when I was removing his ability to harm others."

Hermione hit him then because it was obvious that Remus was thinking about what a dark werewolf might have done to the children. "Tell Uncle Remus the whole story Harry! You can see that you've got him worried!"

Harry nodded and turned to Remus. "I'm sorry Uncle Remus, y _ou_ were the werewolf, and you were the best Defence teacher we ever had! Dumbledore was desperate to keep his job because the Board of Governors were talking about getting rid of him after the Chamber of Secrets debacle, and hiring a fake like Lockhart as the Defence teacher had made his position even more precarious. He must have only remembered the way you were around the full moon and thought that that would have restricted your ability to teach us properly because he and most other people were shocked by how good a job you _did_ do of teaching us, but Snape made sure that the fact that you were a werewolf came out so you got fired at the end of the year….. That reminds me... everyone needs to learn how to cast the Patronus charm to deal with dementors, because we had _much_ too much exposure to those things in the other timeline….."

"Look…. covering even the major points of these stories will take time to get through, so if we're going to go into them tonight we may as well get comfortable first?"

Everyone agreed that that was valid reasoning and that it would be a good time to take a break to do so.


	11. Bedtime Stories

**NB: One thing I probably should explain here, in this world, all of the** ** **obliviations and memory charms that were used on** Harry and Hermione's other selves to make them forget events in ********the other timeline**** were removed ******when they were sent back,** so they now remember _everything_ that happened in that timeline. They also brought back the magic they had when they died, so they are much more powerful now. (This story is in _my_ sand box and _I_ make the rules there ;^)**

 **Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

When Harry went into his trunk flat to get changed into something more comfortable than the robes he was wearing, he saw that someone (almost certainly Efa or Emyr) had mounted the crossed swords of Gryffindor and Slytherin on a shield emblazoned with the quartered coats of arms of the Houses Potter, Peverell, Gryffindor and Slytherin, the four Druid Lord Houses he controlled. He had to admit that it made a nice display.

Once everyone had done what they wanted and settled down again, Harry picked up the story. Most of them were in more comfortable clothes and had a drink in their hand, butterbeer for the younger ones and whiskey or whatever for the older ones.

"Where were we? Oh yeah….. So Lockhart grabbed me for a photo op and made a big thing of presenting me with the entire set of his books. All Riddle's diary needed to get its hooks into Ginny was to have her write in it and pay attention to what he was sending back, so she was pretty much under its control by Halloween. Hermione, Ron and I went to Sir Nicholas' five hundredth death day party that night and when we started to head back to the Great Hall for the Halloween Feast I started hearing a voice but Hermione and Ron couldn't hear what it was saying because they aren't parseltongues…."

The others started at him and he laughed. "Did I forget to mention that? Yeah, I'm a parseltongue, Heir of Slytherin remember?"

When Hermione giggled at that Harry swore. "Shit! I _am_ , aren't I?" he looked back at the others and growled. "I'll explain that later."

"Anyway I insisted on following the voice and Hermione stuck with me of course, so did the walking stomach because as we now know he was being paid to pretend to be my best mate and spy on me. We ended up in front of Myrtle's bathroom and the floor was covered in water because Peeves had upset Myrtle again. There was red writing on the wall… 'The chamber of secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir…. beware' and Filch's cat had been petrified and was hanging off a torch bracket beside it. The writing was probably in chicken blood because Riddle made Ginny kill Hagrid's roosters as roosters crowing are reportedly able to kill a basilisk."

"So Filch turned up and started wailing about his moggy and blaming me and then everyone else turned up and Draco started taunting Hermione about being next. Everyone was trying to find out what the Chamber of Secrets was and someone got the story out of Binns, so then they all started talking about the Heir of Slytherin and Slytherin's monster. The first student to get petrified was a Muggleborn who starts next year by the name of Colin Creevey…. He was camera _and_ Harry Potter mad, so he was always taking pictures, and all too often they were of me. I was in the infirmary when they brought Colin's petrified body in because Lockhart had vanished the bones in my arm after I was hit by a bludger, so I had to take Skelegro to grow them back…. Dumbledore almost broke Colin's fingers off when he ripped his camera out of his hand but when he opened it, the film had been vaporised and he said something about the Chamber being opened _again_ , but of course he wouldn't explain beyond that a student had been killed when it was opened and that the student who opened it had been expelled, but we now know that that was a lie because Hagrid was framed by Riddle for opening the chamber and expelled, even though his pet Acromantula _couldn't_ have been the one who killed Myrtle Warren, Moaning Myrtle that is…."

* * *

He paused "I have to say this before I forget again Hagrid. You _have_ to get Aragog to agree to take Mosag and _all_ their children and be relocated to an island somewhere so that they are no longer a threat to humans and other magical creatures or we'll have to burn them all out, having thousands of Acromantulas here on the mainland, and especially right next to Hogwarts is just too much of a risk, we had to fight them in the final battle and they killed a lot of us. Maybe if you hadn't found Aragog a mate he would have moved on ages ago…."

Hagrid shook his head. "I get what your sayin' Harry and I'll talk t Aragog for sure, but it weren't _me_ who found Mosag, it were Dumbledore! For some reason he implanted the memory that _I_ hunted her down and set them up in the forbidden forest but it _weren't_ me."

"Shit, sorry Hagrid! Anyway, what I'm saying is that Aragog _couldn't_ have killed Myrtle because she said that she just saw some big yellow eyes and died, and if it _had_ been him she would have had puncture marks from his fangs…. but Riddle managed to set up Hagrid for it and got him expelled because no-one would believe a half-giant _creature_ over a prefect... Dumbledore obviously still had plans for Hagrid though because he bound his intellect and magic to that of a slow witted Squib and got him a job here as an apprentice Gameskeeper…. I don't have any proof of this Hagrid, but I wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to have had something to do with your father's death the previous year, because as _I_ found out, he likes having orphans to mould into suitable tools for his plans…."

* * *

"Anyway, back to our Second Year. Lockhart somehow convinced Dumbledore to let him run a _mandatory_ duelling club to teach the students how to defend themselves, and I ended up duelling Malfoy. Draco conjured a venomous snake because he was losing and thanks to Lockhart it ended upon the floor right in front of one of the Muggleborn students. It was about to attack him, but it stopped and looked at me when I told it to stop in parseltongue. That gave Snape a chance to get rid of it but of course everyone was convinced that _I_ was the Heir of Slytherin then which…. as I mentioned earlier, I actually _was_ , even if I didn't know that at the time. For that matter, Riddle always told everyone that _he_ was the Heir of the great Salazar Slytherin but he _wasn't_ , he was actually descended from one of Salazar's _sisters_!"

"Of course, when that student was the next to turn up petrified _everyone_ was convinced that I'd set the monster on him, just like I supposedly set the snake on him. So, we had a cat and two Muggleborn First Years petrified, and while most of the school were terrified the Pureblood bigots like Malfoy were gloating because they were sure that they were safe due to their blood status. Hermione and I eventually agreed with Ron that _Draco_ was most likely suspect to be the Heir of Slytherin and Hermione used Myrtle's bathroom to brew Polyjuice so we could get into the Slytherin common room to ask him about it because Myrtle had scared most of the girls off…."

The adults were all staring at Hermione now. "You taught yourself to brew polyjuice in your _Second_ Year?"

Harry smirked at her. "Three months into her Second Year, yeah, have I mentioned that my Hermione is the brightest witch of our age? But she _did_ learn something very important about polyjuice potions, that you need to be _certain_ that what you're using in the potion is actually from the person you're trying to impersonate!"

Hermione blushed and hid her face in her hands. She obviously wasn't going to explain so Minerva asked. "What do you mean Harry?"

"Ron and I took Crabbe and Goyle's hair for the potions after we used Hermione's knockout potions in cakes to get them out of the way so we could use their identities, but Hermione took some hairs from Millicent Bustrode's robes, and apparently Millicent had a cat…."

Poppy was looking horrified, but most of the adults were trying not to laugh. "Oh no! How long did it take you to change back?"

Hermione had composed herself enough by then to answer. "About six weeks, but luckily it happened just before we broke for Christmas so I came up with an excuse to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas and was ready to go back to class by the end of January."

* * *

"We found a diary from the Forties with Riddle's name on it in Myrtle's bathroom after she flooded it again as she was upset because someone had thrown it right through her when they tried to get rid of it in _her_ toilet. We found out that T.M. Riddle was Tom Riddle, he'd been a prefect and Head Boy and won a prize for special services to the school in Forty Three. Hermione tried to make the diary reveal whatever was written in it, but someone ransacked my dorm room and stole it back before we could find out anything. Everyone was too scared to look me in the eye for fear of being the next one the monster came after, they only stopped running away from me after this one" giving Hermione another squeeze "was the next to be petrified, along with a Muggleborn Sixth Year Ravenclaw Prefect by the name of Penelope Clearwater…. Penny probably dodged a bullet actually because she somehow became Percy's girlfriend sometime in the next few years... actually with Percy's personality and Molly's track record with potions, I expect that _that_ relationship was probably the result of potions as well.… so I think she needs to be checked for charms and potions." he added that last to Poppy, Minerva and Amelia and they nodded grimly.

"Anyway, everyone knew how much I cared about Hermione so they finally started to accept that it _wasn't_ me directing the monster when she became petrified… Hermione had worked out that it was a basilisk though, that was why she and Penny were using a mirror to look around the corner and were petrified rather than killed. She had a page torn out of a _book_ that described basilisks clenched in her hand that had 'pipes' written on it, that told us what we were looking for and how she thought it was getting around the castle, because we didn't know about all the secret passageways in the castle or how big it was at that point…. Just after Hermione and Penny were petrified, Lucius got Fudge to throw Hagrid into Azkaban without a trial or anything because 'the Ministry had to be seen to be doing something', much like what happened to Uncle Siri. Of course Dumbledore didn't even try to do anything to stop it, get him a hearing in front of the Wizengamot or anything, he just came out with his usual empty platitudes and let Fudge's lackeys drag Hagrid off!"

"I'm ashamed to say that I didn't put two and two together and realise that as the only Hogwarts ghost who appeared as a student, Myrtle _must_ be the student who was killed by the monster until after another message appeared on the wall, something about 'Her skeleton will lay in the chamber forever', and when they checked the students to see who that referred to, Ginny was missing. I knew that Myrtle would probably be the only one who could help us, but Ron insisted that we get Lockhart to come with us, he _still_ insisted that the big, strong Professor come with us after I had to disarm the coward because he tried to obliviate us when he realised that he'd admitted that he'd never done any of the heroic feats he wrote about in his books, he just got the story from the ones who actually did them and then obliviated them so he could pass them off as his own daring adventures…. Ron was probably hoping that his Mummy wouldn't blame him quite as much when something went wrong if the marvellous _Gilderoy_ couldn't handle it."

* * *

"Anyway, when we went to Myrtle's bathroom and I asked her how she died, she pointed to where she saw the 'big, yellow eyes' just before she died and I found a snake scratched into a tap there, so I said 'open' in parseltongue and a section of the wall sunk into the floor to show a big pipe going down. Lockhart lunged at us then and I hit him with a disarming charm, because that was all I knew how to do, but it knocked him into the hole. At least we had an audible indicator of what was in front of us then because Lockhart screamed all the way down…. I won't say screamed like a girl because that would just be insulting you lot…." That got him another kiss from Hermione and a bit of a laugh out of Ginny, which was encouraging.

"We sat down and pushed off to slide down feet first, I went first because I was the one with a functioning wand, and Ron could hardly cast spells when his wand worked anyway. I heard Lockhart's scream cut off just before there was a big 'thump' and guessed that he'd fainted when he saw the end, so when the pipe suddenly levelled off I quickly cast a cushioning charm ahead of us so we had a soft landing. Ron's wand was still good enough for a Lumos, so I got him to give us some light and we kicked Lockhart awake. We could see tracks in one direction on the floor of the tunnel so we headed that way. We all pretty well shat ourselves when we saw something at the edge of the light, but it wasn't moving so we crept up to it and luckily found that it was just a cast off skin…. _Just_ , the bloody thing must have been at least thirty to forty feet long!"

"Ron was too busy staring at the skin and pissing himself to pay any attention to anything else and Lockhart snatched his wand off of him. Lockhart thought he had the situation under control then so he was gloating about how he was going to do this... he'd take some of the skin back to sell the story about how we'd been too late to save Ginny and the horror of what had been done to her had destroyed our fragile young minds, but obviously he'd never paid attention to what happened whenever Ron tried to cast spells with that wand because he tried to cast a strong obliviate and it just exploded. He was obviously much more powerful than Ron and it had completely overloaded the wand. Unfortunately, that explosion was enough to bring the roof of the tunnel down and I only avoided being crushed by throwing myself further up the tunnel, thanking the gods for Seeker reflexes. Anyway, I called out to Ron, telling him to try and clear a way through so Ginny and I could get out because I was going on for her, and headed off down the tunnel when he called back to say that he would. Not too far down I came to some big doors which seemed to be made of Goblin silver and they had snakes with emerald eyes for locking bars, they slithered out of the way and the doors opened when I said 'open' in parseltongue again, it was a bit creepy actually. Inside the Chamber it was even creepier, because there were snake carvings _everywhere_ , and the flickering torchlight made it look like they were moving."

"I headed through the chamber, jumping whenever I thought I heard something, and at the other end there was an enormous bust of Salazar Slytherin, it must be at least thirty feet tall. I saw a small figure in school robes laying in front of the bust and it was you Ginny, but you weren't moving and I couldn't get you to wake up. That was when Riddle's shade told me that there was no point trying to wake you because you were fading away so that he could get stronger and he stole my wand. He was only half returned so he couldn't use it, but he was solid enough to take it while I was concentrating on you. Then we had a fun discussion about how brilliant and powerful he thought he was and how he'd managed to frame Hagrid for opening the Chamber and Myrtle's death, he showed me that trick with his name and we had an argument about the fact that he _wasn't_ the greatest wizard ever, and somewhere around there Fawkes appeared and dropped Merlin into my hands. I have to admit that I wasn't too appreciative at the time, because I was desperate for something to fight Riddle with, and I couldn't see how a bloody talking hat could help with that, then Riddle called the basilisk forth. The bottom half of the bust's mouth moved down to show a pipe and the basilisk came out, it looked twice as big as that cast off skin, and it came after me when Riddle told it to kill me. I just closed my eyes and ran away, trying to feel my way with my hands, but the basilisk's hissing changed to pain and fury and it wasn't getting any closer to me so I risked a peek. Fawkes had attacked its eyes until it was blinded so it couldn't kill with a look any more, but then Riddle reminded it that it had _other_ senses to find me with and sent it after me again."

"As the near misses were getting close I crammed the hat on my head and begged for help, I didn't expect anything to happen but I was desperate, and something suddenly hit me in the head from inside the hat so I pulled it off to see what it was, it was the Sword of Gryffindor! I still didn't give much for my chances because from what I could see I would hardly make a mouthful for that monster and I didn't have a clue about how to use it, but having the sword in my hands did make me feel better. Just then the basilisk struck true, I was sure I was dead but I was holding the sword up in front of me and it went up through the roof of its mouth, right through its brain and out the top of its head. That killed it, but I now had a broken fang sticking out of my arm and I could feel its venom burning its way through my body. I pulled the fang out of my arm and collapsed on the floor of the chamber…. everything was going fuzzy and dark as Fawkes landed next to me and I tried to thank her before I died, but all of a sudden I realised that I didn't feel like I was dying any more and everything was getting brighter and clearer! I looked at my arm and realised that Fawkes was crying on the wound where the fang had been, that's when I remembered that Dumbledore saying that phoenix tears are like a miracle cure. Riddle's shade obviously remembered that too, because he suddenly stopped taunting me about dying alone after all my friends had deserted me and tried to shoo Fawkes away."

"Fawkes did leave, but she came right back and dropped the diary on the floor beside the basilisk's fang. It didn't take much to get her message so I grabbed the fang and jammed it into the diary, it started fizzing around the fang and something foul and black started bubbling up out of the diary. Riddle's shade tried to stop me but luckily he still didn't have enough magical strength to cast any dangerous spells with my wand, Fawkes intercepted them and just shrugged them off when they hit her. As the basilisk venom ate a hole in the diary he started screaming and fading away until my wand fell to the floor because he couldn't hold it any more. When I felt up to moving I put the diary in my pocket because all that foul stuff seemed to have dried up and disappeared, but I left the fang there on the floor because I didn't want to prick myself again. I went to pick up my wand and then hobbled over to the basilisk to pull the Sword of Gryffindor out of its mouth. Standing there with the Hat in one hand and the sword in the other, I wondered whether the sword should go back where it came from and the Hat said 'Very good Mister Potter! That's _exactly_ what you need to do, just feed the sword slowly back into me and I will send it back where it came from', so that's what I did, then I handed the Hat back to Fawkes."

"I could hear Ginny moving so I headed back over to her, she was confused and scared and neither of us knew what to do, so I just helped her to her feet and we were leaning on each other as we hobbled out of the Chamber, with the doors closing behind us as we left. We got to where the tunnel had caved in and tried calling out to Ron, but he didn't reply. I was starting to get angry about the fact that after beating both Riddle and the basilisk, we were going to die down there anyway! But then Fawkes appeared in a ball of fire and turned around to offer her tail to us, I remembered what Dumbledore had said about phoenix tails and wrapped my arm around Ginny then grabbed Fawkes' tail and we disappeared in a flash of flame, appearing on the other side of the cave in but no-one was there and it was obvious that nothing had been done to move any of the rocks. Fawkes made a sound that was rather disgusted and we flamed out again, to reappear where that pipe came out into the tunnel, I let go of Fawkes' tail and she settled on my shoulder away from Ginny as I cast a Lumos to light up the area. Ron was sitting in the pipe crying because he couldn't get out and now he was going to either get killed by a ruddy great snake or starve to death just because he'd been made to follow me into everything. When he finally realised that the area was lit up and we were standing there he rushed out, saying that he couldn't move the big rocks so he was trying to get help. I ignored the obvious lie and asked him where Lockhart was but he just shrugged, saying 'Under the rocks I guess', so I asked Fawkes if she could take us all and she nodded, taking off from my shoulder to swing around and offer her tail again. I wrapped my arm around Ginny and took hold like I had before and told Ron to take hold, as soon as he was touching her tail Fawkes flamed out and we reappeared in Myrtle's bathroom. I thanked Fawkes and Myrtle for their help, said 'close' in parseltongue to close the pipe entrance before I took Ginny to Auntie Minnie's office, with Ron trying to convince us of his story the whole way."

* * *

He looked at Ginny and the twins. "Your parents were there, and so was Dumbledore. Arthur was just glad to see that we were all alive and Ron was of course telling everyone how he'd just about single handedly saved Ginny but once Molly was satisfied that we were going to live she started going on and on about how we were obviously meant to be together. Auntie Minnie was trying to get Ginny and me taken to Auntie Poppy but Dumbledore just brushed her off and demanded answers about what was in the chamber and what he needed to do to get to it. When I said how Fawkes had brought the hat to me he came out with a pile of shite about how I must have shown great loyalty to _him_ for Fawkes to come to me and that the Sword of Gryffindor would come to those who needed it… both Merlin and the Sword are heirlooms of _my_ Houses and as such they would only come to the Head or Heir of the house, so I'd say that Merlin asked Fawkes to bring him to me…."

He stopped as Merlin spoke to him over the link. "And Merlin has just confirmed that that is _exactly_ what he would have done if the Head of the Houses of Emrys and Gryffindor was in mortal peril…... Anyway, eventually Auntie Minnie called Auntie Poppy to her office and the moment she saw us Auntie Poppy dragged us off to the infirmary, except for Ron, she sent him off to the Common room after she looked him over because there was nothing wrong with him. She wanted to send us to Saint Mungo's but Molly refused for Ginny after she got a signal from Dumbledore, because they obviously couldn't afford to have anyone examine her too closely and find out what had been done to her. Dumbledore refused to let me go for related but slightly different reasons…. but at least he went to the Wizengamot after that to get Hagrid released from Azkaban, with him being portrayed as his saviour of course!"

Once again, they showed their memories of the events. Hermione only showed the part where she worked out what the monster was, getting caught ripping a page out of a book in the library by Penny and then the two of them getting petrified when they used Penny's makeup mirror to look around a corner. Harry showed what a cute cat girl Hermione made (which got him hit of course), Hermione laying petrified in the infirmary and the trip to the Chamber. They all gasped when they saw the cast off skin and pointed out that Ron had as good as handed Lockhart his wand, so they wondered whether he had decided that he could recover from being obliviated, but not from being killed. Gringott confirmed that the doors of the Chamber were definitely made of goblin silver and therefore would be worth an absolute fortune, but aside from a few screams of terror at the basilisk, no-one said a word through the argument with Riddle and the fight with the basilisk. Gringott also pointed out that a basilisk carcass that size could have been worth almost as much as the goblin silver doors. After seeing the memory of where they stopped on the other side of the cave in, the goblins agreed that Ron hadn't touched a thing before he left, and that his only thought was probably to get away before the snake could get out. They all agreed with Harry's reading of why Molly and Dumbledore wouldn't allow them to be taken to St Mungo's, even though Ginny had been possessed by Riddle for most of the year and almost drained of her magical energy, and Harry had actually been subjected to basilisk venom.

* * *

"Our Third year was easier, but still dangerous. I spent half the summer at the Leaky Cauldron because I blew up my uncle's sister like a weather balloon when she was calling my mother a bitch with no breeding and the magic reversal squad had to fix her. You made the first unassisted escape from Azkaban in your animagus form Uncle Siri and there was a massive manhunt started. Fudge issued a kiss on sight order on you and send half of the dementors at Azkaban to Hogwarts to _protect_ me, that was probably on Lucius' orders because they stopped the train and I almost got kissed before we got to Hogwarts but Uncle Remus drove the dementor off with his patronus…. I _much_ preferred the first kiss I got in this timeline!..." Hermione blushed at that and the others chuckled.

"Snape was only just staying within the rules, giving Uncle Remus his Wolfsbane at the last minute most of the time, making everything about werewolves whenever he was covering his classes around the full moon, and then you, you idiot (glaring at Sirius) put everyone on alert at Halloween when you slashed up the Fat Lady's painting because she wouldn't let you into the Gryffindor Tower. If you'd just acted like an adult we probably would have captured Pettigrew and gotten you cleared, but because you and Snape couldn't get past your school yard brawls, Remus missed getting his Wolfsbane and changed without it, so Pettigrew got away, you were arrested and almost kissed, Hermione and I had to use her time turner…."

He was cut off there by half of the adults. " _How in the seven hells did a fourteen year old girl get a time turner?_ "

Putting up his hands to stop them he said. "The story I got was that Auntie Minnie got it for her so she could fit in more classes, but Dumbledore knew about it and he set us up to use it to rescue Uncle Siri so he was probably behind the whole thing. We saved Buckbeak from Macnair's executioner's axe, I had to use a patronus to chase off some dementors off…."

She wasn't going to let it go at that. " ** _Some?_** There were over a hundred of the bloody things swarming around us and we were fading fast when you chased them all off with _one_ patronus!"

Remus asked to see that and Harry nodded, saying _later_!

"Anyway, Hermione and I got to fly Buckbeak together when we broke Sirius out of the tower, and then he and Buckbeak flew off to London to hide in the Black's London Townhouse. Thinking back, I'm sure that Dumbledore planned all this to make sure that Uncle Siri stayed a wanted man with a kiss on sight order hanging over his head so that he couldn't interfere with the grand plan for me to let myself be killed for the greater glory of Albus Bloody Dumbledore."

Once again, they showed the key memories of the events they'd talked about, and the adults insisted on watching Harry's patronus chasing off the horde of dementors a few times. Amelia made the younger ones watch Harry being saved from the dementor's kiss on the Hogwarts Express a few times too so that they could get an idea of what those things did to you.

* * *

"The Quidditch World Cup was held here the next summer and we got to go after I did my stint in Durzkaban, we had a Death Eater attack and a few hints about the Tri-Wizard Tournament there. If I'd known what Hermione was having to put up with I would have let Ron go when he tried to climb over the rail to get to the Bulgarian team's Veela mascots!" (Hermione just squeezed his arm and kissed him on the cheek) "When Dumbledore announced the Tournament at the Welcoming Feast, I just knew that they were going to find a way to make me go in it and sure enough, on Halloween I was announced as the _Fourth_ Champion in a _Tri_ -Wizard Tournament. I tried to refuse, saying that I didn't enter myself, I didn't _want_ to compete and I was ineligible anyway because it was restricted to competitors who had reached their majority and I was only fourteen. It was all a waste of breath of course because they just kept bleating that it was a magical contract and I had to compete or lose my magic and I had just about everyone from all three schools attacking me for cheating to get into the Tournament, led by my own House and Ronald Bloody Weasley!"

"The only ones who never turned on me were Hermione and Luna, though the Twins, Nev, the girls and Lee only had a few short lapses and I really appreciated Nev magically locking all my stuff away in my trunk so it couldn't be stolen or destroyed, especially after Ron and his mates pissed all over my bed, not to mention the other things those bastards did! I had to get the elves to replace the bed and _everything_ on it, but Dobby watched over my things after that so anyone who tried to do anything to them had an _accident_. There were many times that year that I wished that I'd just called their bluff and refused to compete, even if it wasn't a bluff I would have been fine without magic, after all I'd lived in the Muggle world most of my life."

"The First Task was to steal a golden egg from nesting dragon and of course they made sure that _I_ drew the Hungarian Horntail!" The adults gasped in disbelief that they could have done that but Harry and Hermione nodded grimly. "The fact that I managed to do so without getting hurt pissed them off even more, and I think I must have been confounded because it didn't occur to me to try and _talk_ to the damned dragon, not even _once_ …. It _also_ didn't occur to me to ask Hermione to be my date to the Yule Ball that I _had_ to attend as a Champion before Victor Krum did. I'm pretty sure that Dumbledore interfered with Hermione and Krum to throw them together but as far as I know he didn't manage to overcome Hermione's innate integrity."

Hermione nodded grimly. "It was hard, I was having dreams about having wild sex with Krum every night and _he_ certainly tried to make them a reality more than once, but it just felt wrong and I managed to keep him at arms' length… luckily he didn't have the potions to force me to give in to anything he wanted like Ronald did!" Ginny and the twins looked at her in horror, they'd heard about potions being used on them but not _this_! She nodded again. "Your mother was giving him potions to make me submit to just about anything he wanted from Third Year on. The only things I managed to refuse was being farmed out to his mates and other boys because the lust potions were keyed to _him_ , luckily he would only have three ways with other girls and that wasn't as bad. Dumbledore used memory charms on me to make me forget most of those things so I wouldn't tell Harry or anyone else about them and also used them on Ron and the others to keep what they were doing quiet."

Harry hugged her again and went on. "The Second Task was to fight your way through just about everything living in Black Lake except for the giant squid to rescue what you would miss the most. That old bastard was so warped and twisted that he made _Ron_ my bloody hostage! Myrtle guided me to the Merpeople's village so I was the first there. Fleur Delacour's hostage was her little sister Gabrielle and she was already bleeding quite a bit from the stab wounds where they'd been jabbing her with their tridents when I got there, because Veela and Merpeople are mortal enemies. They tried to stop me when I went to free her as well, so I cast a modified bubblehead charm around myself and stunned most of the village with overpowered cannon blasts..."

He stopped and smiled at Hermione. "Needless to say, Hermione found those when she was searching for things to help me with the task... then I took Hermione and Gabi and got out of there as quick as I could. Cedric Diggory heard the blasts and came to try and help, so he found the village and retrieved his hostage Cho Chang quicker. Krum had no interest in helping anyone else so by the time he eventually found the village, Ron was all that was left, he just left him there and went looking for whoever had taken _his_ hostage! That made for a fun scene with him and his Death Eater Headmaster when he got back, but Fleur and her parents couldn't stop thanking me for rescuing Gabi because Fleur had been hurt so badly that she was forced to turn back and Dumbledore and the other officials wouldn't let anyone else go down for Gabi. Dumbledore just kept assuring them that she would be returned safely, even though it was obvious from the stab wounds that she already had that she wouldn't have left the lake alive if I hadn't recovered her."

"The Third Task was to get through a maze to get the cup, the first one to reach the cup wins. Sounds simple enough right? Not when they filled the maze with five X creatures, lethal traps and an imperioused Krum who's job was to wipe out Fleur and Cedric to make sure that _I_ got to the booby trapped cup. Anyway, I knocked out Krum to rescue Fleur but she'd already been hurt so bad that she was unable to go on so they were both extracted. Cedric and I both made it through the Maze and we agreed to share the victory, grabbing the cup together, only to be port keyed to a graveyard where we heard 'Kill the spare' and Cedric was hit with a killing curse. I woke up tied to a headstone and got used in a ritual to bring Riddle back. Then he summoned Malfoy, Nott, Avery, Macnair, Crabbe, Goyle and the rest of the faithful to watch him torture and then duel with me. I somehow got away, bringing back Cedric's body as his shade had asked me to, only to have his father and just about else accuse _me_ of murdering him! Fudge had Couch Junior kissed by one of the dementors that he claimed were there as his 'bodyguards' before anyone could question him and told everyone that the stories about Riddle being back were all lies."

"After all that. Dumbledore sent me back to be locked up in Durzkaban like he did every summer and made sure that no-one contacted me. The Umbitch sent two dementors after me there, I managed to chase them off with a patronus, but after they changed the time and court room at the last minute in an attempt to try me in absentia I found that my underage magic hearing for casting a patronus in front of my muggle cousin, who already knew about magic, had been turned into a full Statutes of Secrecy violation trial _as an adult_ with the intention of burying me in Azkaban. Luckily that didn't suit Dumbledore's plans so he got me off.

The pensieve sessions took longer this time. Most of the memories were Harry's for this year, as the First Task was the only one where Hermione had a better viewpoint than Harry, though what Dumbledore and his accomplices were saying before they realised that she was able to hear them as they were preparing the hostages for the Second Task was chilling, and the way she and the other helpless girls were being molested while they were held in body binds made them all vow retribution... No-one doubted that Harry was serious when he asked Olag whether he'd be interested in buggering a human Wizard or Squib.

They thought that there was probably a reason for Harry to include two summers' memories this time, and worked out what it was fairly quickly.

* * *

Hearing that the toad creature from Harry's trial was the Defence teacher in their Fifth Year filled them all with foreboding, and that was soon borne out. Minerva and the other teachers had to be reminded that Dumbledore had been controlling them all through this as they heard what was being done to the students, Harry in particular, and they weren't doing anything to stop it. Hearing about the mental torture that Dumbledore had Snape put Harry through under the pretence of Occlumency training had a few vows to return the favour being muttered through the group. Those who knew Muggle history drew parallels with Himmler and his Gestapo when they heard about the Umbitch's Inquisitorial Squad. The only thing positive that they heard was how well Harry and Hermione's alternative Defence training for 'Dumbledore's Army' worked out, though they did laugh when they heard what happened to the Umbitch when she tried to order the centaurs to obey her in _their_ domain, after insulting them. Harry was full of self loathing and anger as he described their misguided rescue attempt and the battle of the Ministry.

"Even though Hermione was warning me that this was a trap, I insisted on going to save Uncle Siri, and Hermione, Ron, Nev, Luna and Ginny insisted on coming with me, though I know then that Ron was under orders to do so and the Ginny of that timeline was induced to. It was Luna's suggestion that we use thestrals to get there and it was an exhilarating if uncomfortable ride, especially for the three who couldn't see them. It was obvious that something was going on when the Ministry was empty when we got there but I still charged in. About the only injury I didn't feel guilty about was Ron with the brains, because that was caused by his own stubborn stupidity, but I almost died when I saw Dolohov hit Hermione with that curse. We were struggling of course, six students against a dozen of Riddle's worst Death Eaters and we weren't using anything worse than stunners because that was the 'right' thing to do, while they were using everything up to and including the unforgivables on us. I thought we were saved when the Order finally arrived…. Snape had held off on passing on the message for as long as he could, probably in hope of seeing me and the others killed and Riddle getting the prophecy…. only to see Bellatrix knock Uncle Siri through the veil of death because he was treating a duel with the world's most dangerous and psychotic witch as a _game!_ " The look that he turned on Sirius at that had the man cowering back into his seat.

"I was so enraged that I stooped to her level and tried to use the crucio curse on her when I duelled her but I wasn't good enough to stop her getting away so I ended up chasing her up to the Atrium. That was where things got interesting because Riddle turned up while I was duelling her, he was too much for me and managed to possess me for a while but Dumbledore decided to step in and duel Riddle, because he had a big audience for show he put on there, up until Riddle took Bellatrix and left. Fudge had to admit that Riddle was back then, because everyone who was in the Atrium had seen him, that was enough to get him kicked out but Scrimgeour wasn't much better, and of course, Dumbledore sent me back to Durzkaban for the summer, because obviously I hadn't suffered enough!"

There was no laughter as they watched the memories for this year, Hermione was holding Harry tight through most of it, Luna looked delighted at their flight on the thestrals and Sirius had the grace to look guilty about being stupid enough to treat duelling Bellatrix as a game and get killed for it. Alastor and Amelia did point out that Harry had done better against Bellatrix at fifteen than most adults could.

* * *

"Sixth year…. It was mainly machinations and politics, Dumbledore used me to coax Slughorn into returning and rewarded his pet Death Eater with the Defence position he'd always wanted. Dumbledore and I started going after the horcruxes and he was stupid enough to put a cursed ring on. Auntie Poppy stopped the spread of the curse with Snape's help but apparently the withering effect couldn't be reversed, I have to wonder whether it could have been reversed if it was Snape's _master_ who'd been cursed. Snape swore an unbreakable vow to assist Draco in the task Riddle gave him, to get Death Eaters into Hogwarts and kill Dumbledore, but when that cumulated in a battle on the Astronomy Tower they failed because Dumbledore faked his death and ran away to hide. That was how I found out about Dumbledore's original wand, because he got me to help him swap it for the Elder Wand when he thought that the Elder Wand may be taken."

There wasn't much to see in the memories for that year, and then Harry went on to the final year.

"Hermione and I left to spend months on the road, hunting down the rest of the Horcruxes, and of course the walking stomach insisted on coming because Mummy and Dumbledore told him to, but he decided that it was too hard for him so he left us and went home to Mummy. It was good until Mummy made him come back to make sure that Hermione and I didn't give in to our natures without the potions to keep us apart. We were on the road when the Death Eaters took over and had Snape instated as Headmaster, so he put Death Eaters into most of the key positions. Nev, Luna and Ginny kept Dumbledore's Army going, but things had deteriorated to the point where most of them were hiding in the room of requirements by the time we'd dealt with all of the horcruxes except for me and Nagini and returned. That's when we had the final battle at Hogwarts. Most of us died, and far too many other innocents did as well. I threw Nev the Sword of Gryffindor when Nagini came at him, it was quite a sight to see her fall apart when he cut her head off and the horcrux was destroyed, and you looked every inch the hero you are Nev…." Nev blushed at that and everyone else chuckled.

"Of course, I was still stupidly believing all of the crap that Dumbledore had been feeding me, so I faced Riddle and let him kill me with the killing curse, he was rather surprised when I came back from the dead and that gave me the opportunity to destroy him while his guard was down. We were still trying to save those who were injured in the final battle and bury our dead when Dumbledore strolled in, using the power of the Elder Wand to heal people and make repairs. The sheep swallowed his shite about how the regrettable ruse of his death had been necessary because it was the only way to bring down Voldemort, and the way he was throwing money around to get people back on their feet… it was actually my money, but no-one bothered asking where it came from…. they welcomed him back like a conquering hero, their great saviour. They pretty much begged him to take back all the power those nasty Death Eaters had taken from him and bowed down to him as the 'Leader of the Light'. Hermione and I went back to Hogwarts to finish our education and get our NEWTs, and that's how we were roped into those marriages so that Molly and Dumbledore could get control of our Houses and fortunes."

When they'd gone through the memories for that period, Harry brought up what was really worrying him.

"I think the Fates are ensuring that everything balances out. We used Hermione's and my memories of what is to come to destroy Riddle and most of his Death Eaters in early September, but we still had trolls being released into the castle in the middle of the Halloween Feast. That's why I don't believe that eliminating the ones who created most of the problems in the other timeline will be enough to stop those problems occurring in this timeline. If I'm right, the same problems and even the same events will still occur, there will just be different players….. so as far as I can see, all we can do is try to limit the mayhem that is created by those problems."

They all looked at each other in dismay, because what he was saying made sense in a very disturbing way. After some debate, they agreed that they'd just have to adhere to Alastor's mantra of 'Constant Vigilance!' while they tried to drag Magical Britain out of the mire that it had descended into under the control of the Pureblood bigots.

With that, they went to bed.


	12. Lady Bodhmall

**Sorry if anyone was waiting for this update but… well… tough. I've been quite enjoying reading the old, and not so old, stories from other writers who seem to agree with me on how the HP world could have been made better. It was amusing to be reminded again that great minds think alike/there's nothing new/insert favourite adage here when I take a break to read others' stories and find that they're coming out with the same ideas as I'm working on in my own stories. Getting lost in the story is my addiction so I tend to disappear down the rabbit hole for days on end as I go through the stories of a writer I appreciate, read 2-3 million words of one guy's work, and enjoyed nearly every story. Anyway, never fear, I is back! ;^)**

 **Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

While Aragog, his mate and their descendants were a very real threat to everyone at Hogwarts, and beyond its borders as well, in Harry's opinion Salazar's basilisk was a far bigger one. The basilisk was quite insane (as in Bellatrix Lestrange psychotic) after being possessed by Tom Riddle then left to deal with _his_ insanity for fifty years while it was locked in the chamber, so it _had_ to go! The family and the Goblin Nation's research led them to believe that the fantastical notion that a crowing rooster could kill a basilisk was actually true, and as fate may have it, the Marauders had created a spell that conjured a very loud crowing rooster any time, anywhere, day or night (the original intention had been to conjure it in people's dorm rooms in the middle of the night and by Marauder standards it was a surprisingly tame and safe prank for people, so Harry and the others gave Sirius and Remus a pass on the Cockadoodledo spell, on the understanding that it would _never_ be used on or around any of them).

As he still wasn't about to trust the whole 'rooster's crow is fatal to it' thing blindly, and he remembered what happened to him the _last_ time he stuck his arm into the basilisk's mouth to kill it, Harry asked Gringott whether the Goblin Nation might have any better tools to kill the creature. The fact that they went past the Potter, Peverell, Le Fay and Emrys vaults (which were among the oldest Houses and therefore had some of the earliest vaults) and went even deeper said that they were going somewhere very old and venerated by the Goblin Nation. Then they were escorted into the vault in question they realised what Gringott had in mind, because it was filled with magical weapons and armour that was quite literally the stuff of legend. What Gringott had actually brought Harry down for was to determine whether the Spear of Lugh would accept him or not. The Spear of Lugh accepted him alright, but they also collected some of the other magical weapons and suits of enchanted goblin silver (or mithril, as it was called in those children's stories which became so popular in the Muggle world) chain mail because they were planning on everyone who went after the basilisk coming back alive. They also created sets of wrap around mirror goggles for everyone who was going, with communications mirrors both on the outside, and the inside to let them see what was going on. Hopefully, these should totally negate any and all dangers of the basilisk's deadly gaze, but at worst they should only be petrified like those who saw the basilisk's eyes in a reflection.

They arranged to take some real roosters as a backup for using the Cockadoodledo charm to conjure crowing roosters, and confirmed that Fawkes could use Harry's memories to appear within the Chamber of Secrets. The reasons for this last were threefold, first was to confirm that they could reach the chamber without taking a chance on that unstable tunnel, the second was the fact that phoenixes appeared to be immune to the effects of the basilisk's gaze, and the third was to ensure that they didn't arrive in front of an active basilisk. When Fawkes gave the all clear, she took those who were going into the chamber and as soon as they were all ready, Harry called the basilisk the way Riddle had in the other timeline.

After the death defying battle in the other timeline, the basilisk's demise was rather anti-climactic this time, as soon as it was it had come out onto the floor of the Chamber, everyone who could cast the Cockadoodledo charm did so. That was enough to have the basilisk thrashing about in its death throes, and as soon as they died down, Harry moved in and thrust the Spear of Lugh through the roof of its open mouth into its brain, then they confirmed that it was dead by using detection scans cast into its mouth to get past the basilisk skin's legendary magic resistance.

Once the basilisk was dead, they brought in the teams to harvest the carcass and skins and remove the goblin silver doors from Gringotts. No-one else knew where the chamber was, and the value of a magically maintained chamber that size was too much to ignore, so they walled up the entrance once the doors were removed and warded the chamber to only allow goblin, elf or phoenix apparation, port keys and floos. The teams spent weeks down there, and as they cleared out the cast off skins and debris they discovered vaults that held far greater treasures than the Slytherin vaults at Gringotts, and a staircase leading up to Salazar's chambers with even more treasures in the form of Salazar's library and journals. Gringotts paid a fortune for the basilisk's enchanted ever-filling food and water bowls, because this saved them incredible amounts of money and effort when it came to feeding and watering the vault dragons in Gringotts.

* * *

The next couple of months went fairly quietly for them, Albus Jones kept his head down and by the Christmas break they had all passed their Second Year end of year exams so they had until June next year to finish their Third Year subjects, which included five electives for Harry and Hermione (Care of Magical Creatures, Magical Culture, Muggle Culture, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy). They were also progressing their non-magical education, which meant that they were rather busy. Hermione had another quandary to deal with though, her parents.

Coming from humble backgrounds, Hermione's father was _very_ conscious of his family's image, requiring that his and her mother Jean's titles of 'Doctor' be used by everyone but close family and friends (and by them too in formal settings for that matter), and Jean had trouble breaking the shackles of the emotional blackmail he'd used to control her since they got together. It was Nigel (Hermione's father) who had decided that her name would be from Shakespeare _….._ but Ophelia, Cordelia, Juliet, or even Desdemona weren't distinctive enough for _his_ daughter…. oh no, she had to be __Hermione__ _._

For the most part, life for the Granger family was pretty much as Nigel wished, he and his wife were respected both professionally and in the community, and they had a delightfully precocious daughter who enchanted their friends and associates with her wise beyond her years comments and responses and sharp mind.… there were those occasional odd occurrences which were worrying, but hopefully she'd grow out of them…. Jean had mentioned that Hermione had become more and more withdrawn since she started school and never talked about friends, but her teachers always gave her such glowing reports, and there was still too much work to be done to establish the Granger family's image to waste time on anything that obviously wasn't a problem.

His satisfaction with their family's position in the world was shattered on Hermione's eleventh Birthday though when that severe looking woman who appeared to have stepped out of a Dickensian novel appeared on their doorstep and informed them that their daughter was a witch! She gave them enough demonstrations to quell any doubts that magic was real, and drew them out on all those odd occurrences that they hadn't been able to explain when Hermione was younger, so they had to accept that what she said was true, their little Hermione was a _witch_.

Nigel drew some comfort from the story that this Professor McGonagall gave them to explain to people about where Hermione was, that she had been accepted into a school for the gifted in Scotland, and even more from the fact that she told Hermione that she couldn't practice magic at home because children were not allowed to practice magic away from school, and that the International Statute of Secrecy decreed that magic had to be hidden from anyone who didn't know about it. This meant that their hard won image would remain intact, and it may even be enhanced by the fact that their daughter had been accepted into an exclusive school for the gifted, but while this worked quite well for Nigel, it did _not_ work for Hermione.

* * *

Hermione wasn't the little girl that her parents, especially her father, wanted her to be any more, the one who was expected to keep quiet about the strange subjects she was learning about and continue being their delightfully precocious daughter that their friends and associates loved to discuss important matters with though. On the inside she was a nineteen year old woman with over seven years of memories of magic, violence, love, politics, abuse and sex, she'd gotten married, had a baby and been _murdered_ by her Husband, Mother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law! After seven bloody years of having her will and memories taken away from her, she was finally free to be with her soul mate and they were bonded by magic, their bonds were far closer than any non-magical bond could ever be…. Shit, even on the outside she looked like a well developed young woman in her mid teens now, so to fit into her parents' world (she didn't consider that to be _her_ world any more) she'd have to wear heavy glamours and avoid physical contact with anyone….. That just wasn't practical, even if she wanted to do it, which she _didn't_!

That was why Ted had prepared all the necessary paperwork for Nigel and Jean Granger to renounce any and all claims to their daughter Hermione Jean Granger, so that she could then be formally adopted as Hermione Jean Bodhmall by Baron Alastor Dougal Moody in Non-Magical Britain as well as Magical Britain. No-one thought for a moment that Nigel and Jean would give up their rights to their daughter easily, but Hermione was planning on greeting them in her natural form, as there was no logical way that they could ever explain to any of their friends that _this_ was their twelve year old daughter who had looked four or five years younger just four months ago.

Introducing her father to his Uncle Alastor when her grandmother had told everyone that she was an only child and an orphan was another step she was prepared to take to take to get this done, and if all else failed, she would introduce her parents to her husband, the eleven year old Duke Henry James Potter-Peverell who looked like a tall, strapping lad in his mid teens, if that wasn't enough to convince them that she lived in another world now, nothing would! She would like to keep in contact with them as they were her parents after all, even if they had been a little more distant and 'proper' than she would have liked as a little girl, but she couldn't be Hermione Granger or live in their world any more. If they agreed to release her from that, Hermione Granger would officially die in an accident in Scotland and be cremated, but they would be able to keep in touch and see her from time to time as Jean's French second cousin's teenage daughter who'd come to England to study at Cambridge.

It went about as well as they expected at Kings Cross when the Hogwarts Express arrived, they gave the majority of students a chance to disperse and then approached Hermione's parents. Nigel and Jean noted the attractive and well dressed teenage couple who were walking in their direction, but didn't pay much attention to them until the girl said "Mum, Dad, this is Harry", because even though the voice was older, that was their daughter's voice! Nigel was too stunned to move, so it was Harry who had to leap forward to catch Jean as she fainted. They quickly looked around to confirm that no-one was looking in their direction, then Hermione grabbed her father's arm and they popped them into Ted's law offices.

* * *

After Jean had been revived, they spent nearly an hour trying to explain to them that this was what Professor McGonagall had been referring to when she said that magic could push girls, and boys, through puberty far more quickly than it normally happened in the Non-Magical world. Nigel and Jean had a hard enough time believing that this was their little girl, so there was no way they were prepared to believe that the strapping young man she had introduced to them as Harry was nearly a year younger than her. Hermione was getting frustrated that they were refusing to accept the situation, so she used her link with Harry to call in him, Uncle Alastor, Efa, Emyr, Ulfr and Snorri in.

While he blanched at the sight of Alastor, Efa, Emyr, Ulfr and Snorri, Nigel blustered and told them to get out because this was a family discussion, but he was shocked into silence when Hermione stepped up beside Alastor and shouted over him. "They _are_ family Dad, this is your Uncle Alastor!" The silence in the room at that made it possible for her to continue in a normal voice. "Grandma lied! She _wasn't_ an only child, _or_ an orphan, she was what was known in the Magical world as a Squib, someone non-magical who is born into a magical family. Squibs aren't often treated well by the old families but in this case it was _her_ choice to change her name and cut off all contact with her family when her younger brother Alastor got everything because he was magical and she wasn't! Maybe if she hadn't hidden the fact that she was from a magical family and _you_ hadn't hidden the fact that I was showing magic because you were ashamed of my being different, things may not have gotten to this point, but you both _did_ , so here we are! As you can see, there's obviously no way you can tell people that I'm the same girl who went off to school in September without explaining things that the Statute of Secrecy won't allow, and I refuse to live in your world, hidden away like some dirty little secret, so I want you to sign custody of me over to Uncle Alastor, we'll put everything in place to show that I died in an accident on the way home for Christmas, we can keep in touch and you can see me sometimes as a relative from France who's just come over to study at Cambridge. _Otherwise…_. I'll do what Grandma did, we'll go with the accident story but you'll never hear from me again!"

Her father was building up to a rant but her mother could see the family resemblance to Nigel in the man's ravaged visage. She was trying to understand and asked. "You have implied that these people are _all_ family Hermione…. you've explained about…. Uncle Alastor but could you tell us how Harry or the others fit in?"

Hermione smiled and reached out to take Harry's hand. "I know that you know the concept of soul mates from your romance novels Mum?" Jean nodded dubiously, wondering where this was going. "Well in the magical world, they're a real thing…. quite rare, but real. When I met Harry, we felt a link between us and our magic bonded to make that link real, and that is magically accepted as a marriage, so Harry is your Son-in-Law Mum…."

Nigel exploded, shouting as he moved to get this boy away from his daughter, but Alastor just silenced him and put him in a body bind, as he was interested to see how Jean would take this.

Jean was obviously stunned, but she didn't faint this time. "Married….. You're married by magic, at twelve? How is that possible Hermione?"

"As I said Mum, our magic bonded, that's all that's required in our world. Hopefully you at least are able to recognise that I didn't just mature physically, I'm older mentally as well…. neither of us expected or planned for this to happen Mum, but I'm happy, and I'm hoping that you will be happy for me… for us, too."

"I can see that Sweetie, and I _am_ happy to see you so happy, but you must understand that this is quite a shock… my baby girl is all grown up and married at _twelve_ …. What does Harry's family think about this?"

Hermione looked at Harry and he nodded for her to continue, as they weren't ready for her parents to know that they could talk over their link. "Harry's an orphan Mum, his parents were murdered by a terrorist when he was just fifteen months old. Someone went against his parents' wishes at the time and left him with his mother's non-magical sister, who resented the fact that her sister was the one who got the magic in her family so she and her husband and son treated Harry horribly for ten years, but they all died in an accident earlier this year. His godparents, who he should have gone to in the first place, are his guardians now."

Alastor nodded approvingly when Jean rushed to hug Harry at that, upset at what he'd gone through. He didn't release his nephew though because he was obviously still furious.

Jean gave Harry another squeeze and stepped back, speaking to Hermione. "All right, you've explained how Uncle Alastor and your handsome husband are family Sweetie, but you still haven't explained these other… people?" No-one took offence at that, because it was said in confusion rather than to offer offence, and Efa, Emyr, Ulfr and Snorri obviously weren't human.

Hermione drew a breath, as this was likely to be harder to take than the previous news. "I think I need to explain about Harry's family first Mum, you see it's been one of the guiding families of the magical people of Britain for over two thousand years now, and they've been recognised as nobility by the non-magical rulers of Britain for nearly three quarters of that time. Harry is actually Duke Henry James Potter, Duke of Cumbria, but the thing is, Harry isn't entirely human, and neither am I, nor are you and Dad for that matter. Over a thousand years ago the _aes sídhe_ lived alongside men, and they mixed their bloodlines with the more powerful Druid families. You may know the _aes sídhe_ as the Fae, but anyway they are made up of the _Tuath Dé,_ the high elves, and the _Fomoiri,_ the high goblins. The ancient guiding families like Harry's, and the ones that I'm descended from, all have _aes sídhe_ blood, and that's part of the reason we're so powerful magically…." She waved to Efa, Emyr, Ulfr and Snorri as she introduced them. "Efa and Emyr are Elf Nobles who are part of Harry's family because they have been bonded to them magically for over a thousand years, and Ulfr and Snorri are Goblin Nobles, they are related to Harry because their Uncle Gringott blood adopted Harry into the Gringott family. And as I am Harry's soul bonded wife, they are now related to me as well."

Jean was staring at her, shocked, but she still hadn't fainted yet, which they took as a good sign. When she had composed herself a little she said. "So you're telling me that you're not only married at twelve, you are now _Duchess_ Potter?" Hermione nodded. "Okay... Can you explain what you meant about your father and I having this….. _aes sídhe_ blood?"

Hermione nodded again. "As I said, the _aes sídhe_ _were_ mingling their bloodlines with the most powerful Druid families for over a thousand years up until about a thousand years ago, at which point they retreated from this realm because it was getting too violent. Their kin had been mingling with magical humans around the world for thousands of years before that. There are currently around five thousand magical bloodlines known in Magical Britain, I don't know how many there are elsewhere in the world. As you know people in the same family can be genetically quite different..." It was Jean's turn to nod.

"That was why Grandma Granger was born without enough magic to be a witch, but Uncle Alastor is a powerful wizard. Now in Magical Britain, witches and wizards like me who are born to non-magical parents are known as Muggleborn…. they call non-magical people Muggles in Magical Britain…. Harry's Mum was also known as Muggleborn, so Harry is what they call a Half-blood, someone with one parent from a Magical family and one from a non-magical or recently magical family, Harry's father was what they call a Pureblood, someone who's bloodlines have all been Magical for several generations. The thing is, as Professor McGonagall, who's now the Headmistress of Hogwarts by the way, tried to explain to the students when she became Headmistress, it's only one in several million so called Muggleborns who _don't_ come from the known magical bloodlines. Their magical genes can be dormant for generations, but they become active when they're combined with other dormant magical bloodlines. That's what happened with me, I inherited a few ancient magical bloodlines from Dad, and a few more from you, and that was how I became a witch. One of the original druid guiding families, the House of Bodhmall, has been dormant for centuries but it was reactivated in me and I'm taking on that name. We are removing any and all references to the name of Granger in Magical Britain to protect you and Dad from the anti-Muggleborn radicals who believe that magic should be restricted to no-one but the ones from the established Magical families, like the ones who murdered Harry's parents. They killed thousands of people in what was known as the First Wizarding War, which only finished when Harry's parents were murdered, and many of those targeted in the war were the non-magical families of Muggleborn Witches and Wizards. We don't want anything to happen to you so we're taking measures to ensure that the name Granger is forgotten in that world."

Harry and the others could see that Hermione got her brilliance and logic more from her mother, because Jean was processing this and putting it all together while Nigel was obviously only thinking of what he would or wouldn't allow. This was made abundantly clear when Jean spoke again.

"So, aside from the obvious issue of not being able to explain exactly how you've suddenly gotten a few years older, your being magically married to Duke Potter has made us a target to the ones who murdered Harry's parents, so you are distancing yourself from us to protect _us_."

Hermione nodded. "That's not the whole reason, but yes, that's a large part of it Mum."

Jean reached out to squeeze her hand as she nodded and looked at Nigel. "Are you ready to discuss this like a grown up now Nigel?"

She got enough from what his eyes were saying to ask Alastor to let him speak. Alastor nodded, but spoke to his nephew first. "Make no mistake Boyo, if you _can't_ discuss this like a grown up, you will be silenced again immediately, and then you'll have any memories you have of magic wiped out. All you'll know about your daughter when you leave here is that she died in an accident on the way home from school for Christmas!" He looked at Jean. "You will have to make a choice if that happens Missus Granger, we can either wipe out your memories of your daughter as well, or you can keep your memories of her and maintain contact with her as a French relation who's studying here as she said, if you choose that we will give my nephew the necessary memory framework to support that story."

Jean's eyes went wide at that, but she had no doubt that Nigel's frightening Uncle could do as he said and nodded. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that but if Nigel chose his pride over his daughter, he would be the only one who lost her! Alastor smiled as he read her decision on her face and removed the silencing spell from her husband.

Nigel's first words were " ** _You have no right!_**..." and Alastor was about to silence him again but Jean put her hand up to ask him to hold. " _What_ doesn't your Uncle have the right to do Nigel? Shut you up to give our daughter a chance to try and explain what was going on? Did you pay attention to the fact that Hermione and her husband are doing this largely to protect _us_ …. or were you ignoring her because you were only focussed on the fact that you were stopped from riding roughshod over her yet again? Did you even _hear_ what Hermione was explaining?"

He waved that off. "Fae, ancient families that go back thousands of years, her boyfriend is a _Duke_? It's all bloody ridiculous! He's obviously created some fantastic story in an attempt to impress her because he wants to have his way with my daughter and I won't have it! For that matter I don't believe he's eleven either! He's just pretending to be the same age as her to gain her confidence."

Hermione went to shout back at him (because she'd inherited his temper), but Jean stopped her with a raised hand as she responded. " _Ridiculous_ is it? Like the existence of magic you mean? I don't know about you Nigel Granger but _I've_ always respected my daughter's intelligence and maturity and I know for a _fact_ that she will have looked carefully into anything she was told rather than swallowing a line from the first boy who wants to get into her pants as _you_ have apparently chosen to believe! What Hermione just described about how the magical bloodlines were going dormant and reactivating when they're combined is quite easy to accept for anyone who's looked into genetics at all, and how can you question the Fae when these people are right here in the room, any fool can see that they're not human!"

She gave Efa, Emyr, Ulfr and Snorri an apologetic look at that but they waved it away, because _they_ at least could see the point she was making, that trying to deny that the Fae existed with elves and goblins in the room was just ridiculous.

"Maybe you're blind as well as stubborn, because you also appear to be refusing to accept that your own mother lied to you about not having any relations, when the family resemblance between you and your Uncle here is quite obvious to everyone else. As for the validity of Harry's title as the Duke of Cumbria, from what Hermione said that it was granted by the rulers of Britain, so presumably it should exist in the non-magical world as well as your world?"

Harry nodded and spoke for the first time. "Yes Missus Granger, I believe that the titles for what we call the Most Ancient and Ancient Noble Houses at least are maintained in the official archives, but the records may be two or three generations out of date for my family, because as far as I know my father at least never officially took up the title, so I expect that the last Duke of Cumbria recorded would probably be my Grandfather, Charlus Henry Potter, or perhaps even my Great-Grandfather, Henry Ralston Potter. For that matter Uncle Alastor is likely to be listed in there as the Baron of Doon as well."

Jean nodded. "Thank you Harry, but if I'm your Mother-in-Law, don't you think you can call me Jean, or maybe even Mum?"

He gave her a shy smile that tugged at her heart strings. "Yes… Mum."

She have him a warm smile at that, which faded as she turned back to her husband. "And where's the logic in questioning that Harry can look years older than he is when you can clearly see that our own daughter is apparently years older than when we last saw her less than four months ago?"

"I thought I married an intelligent man Nigel Granger, but I'm not seeing that here, I'm seeing a petulant child who's stamping his feet and refusing to see anything that doesn't fit into his pre-conceived notions of the world, even though is was _proven_ to us that magic exists and our daughter is a witch over a year ago!"

She turned back to Hermione and Harry. "I'm sorry Sweetie, I've let your father try to force you into the mould of what he expected his daughter to be to keep the peace in the family but that ends here! I love you for who you are and want you to know that I will support you, whatever you want to be. I must admit that it's hard to accept that my baby girl is married at twelve, and I'm trying to get my head around the fact that this, and your rapid changes, are all part of your being a witch, but please believe that I'm ever so happy that you've found such a fine young man as Harry."

They were both in tears as Hermione hugged her, and when they'd settled down, they turned to look at Nigel expectantly. He just looked back at them mulishly, refusing to say a word and Jean sighed as she turned to Ted. "Will my signature alone be sufficient to legally relinquish custody of Hermione to Uncle Alastor Mister Tonks?"

He nodded. "It's just a formality Missus Granger, so yes, but you do understand that if we are forced to do it this way your husband will lose all memories of your daughter being anything other than a bright girl who was killed in an accident on the way home for Christmas?"

She sighed again. "Yes, _I_ understand that Mister Tonks, but apparently my husband has chosen to give our daughter up, just so he can stand his ground and be in the _right_ in his eyes."

Nigel spoke up then. "What are you doing Jean? You can't be agreeing to let them do this to me? You can't let them take our daughter away from us like this!"

"No Nigel, Hermione's path has been different from our's ever since we discovered that she is a witch, it's obvious to me that we can't pretend that she's the same little girl any more but you have apparently chosen to reject her path and her choices because they don't match whatever _you_ have decided her life was going to be, without any input from me either by the way! I am prepared to do whatever I have to to remain a part of my daughter's life…. if you refuse to do the same, then you will lose her, the choice is your's."

"I won't let you get away with this…."

Alastor silenced him again and looked at Harry, as he knew that Harry had a lighter touch with Mind Magic. Harry went in and removed any and all memories to do with magic and inserted memories of how proud he'd been when Hermione was selected to go to an exclusive school for the gifted in Scotland, and sad memories of hearing the news that she'd died in a car crash when she was getting a lift back to London for Christmas with one of her school friends. He also inserted memories that Jean had chosen the name Hermione because one of her cousins in France had named her daughter Hermione Jeanne, and that cousin's daughter had been just accepted to Cambridge so Jean was keeping in contact with her so that she didn't feel lonely away from her family, and to help get over the loss of the daughter she'd named after her.

Finally, he removed any memory of being in Ted's offices and stunned Nigel before he was popped back to their home in Crawley. He and Hermione went with Jean when she drove home from Kings Cross station, and along the way they filled her in on the details of all the memory modifications Harry had made. With Jean's permission Harry gave her copies of the memories he'd provided Nigel with and put a compulsion on her never to mention anything about magic to anyone other than them.

Efa and Emyr had removed any and all references to magic, Harry or Hogwarts from the house while they were waiting for Jean to arrive with Hermione and Harry, and they revived Nigel just before they popped away.

* * *

When they got back to the Black Townhouse, Harry held Hermione as she cried herself out, because they knew that there was little chance that her parents' marriage would survive this. Jean had been getting things off her chest as she drove, and it was obvious that Hermione was pretty much the only reason she was still with Nigel.

The story that came out was that Jean had fallen for Nigel when she started at University, and she'd changed her plans from medical research to Dentistry under pressure from him, because she'd gone along with anything he said at the time and he'd browbeaten her into agreeing that that Dentistry was a more sensible choice. When they'd finished university they started practising together and paying back the loans they got to go to university. Nigel had argued that they couldn't afford to have children until they were properly established, so Jean was in her late twenties before a mistake with the contraception meant that Hermione was conceived. She was quite angry when she told them how hard he'd tried to convince her terminate the pregnancy, just because having a child would put a strain on their finances.

Apparently, once he lost the argument to terminate the pregnancy, he then started planning how to make the child enhance their image among their peers. Jean admitted that she had actually suggested Juliet and Hermione, because she'd been a fan of both Romeo and Juliet and a Winter's Tale, but she'd given in to Nigel when he decided that Hermione would be her name because it was more distinctive. She also admitted that she'd given in again when she let her be put in child care when she was three because Nigel had insisted that they couldn't afford to have someone else working with him while she stayed home with their daughter.

As they got closer to Crawley, Jean sighed as she said that part of the reason she'd wanted to stay at home and raise Hermione was that working and living with Nigel had by then become so excruciatingly boring that the only thing she had to look forward to was spending time with her daughter. She had regretted changing her studies to dentistry years before Hermione was conceived, and she'd been thinking about getting a divorce and starting over until she became pregnant. The obvious implication from this was that if Hermione was out of the equation in the Granger family, there would be no Granger family.

* * *

They received help from an expected quarter in talking through this, because after Draco was put through the Veil of Death and they discovered that Narcissa had in fact been raped by Abraxus Malfoy to force her marriage with Lucius before she'd even left school, Sirius had reinstated her into the House of Black and had her move into the Black Townhouse to start over. Cissa's situation wasn't that different from Jean's, in that she'd stayed with her ex-husband because her desire to look after her son, so she could offer some insights into how Jean was looking at the situation.

When she first joined them, Cissa had dropped all of her mind defences and allowed them to look at all her memories to prove herself to them, and the life she was forced to live had been a nightmare from the day she was raped by her prospective Father-in-Law. When they reviewed their memories of her from the other timeline without the expectation that she was nothing but an unmarked Death Eater, Harry and Hermione realised that everything they recalled their matched what they saw in Narcissa's memories, she had only been acting as she was required to in public, she hadn't actually done Riddle's bidding at any point. Even what Harry had seen of her and Bellatrix forcing Snape to make the unbreakable vow to help Draco complete his task was only a woman desperately trying to save her son. Bellatrix may have been demented enough to serve Riddle, but Narcissa wasn't.

This presented quite an opportunity for the Wizards Council Alliance, because as a true daughter of House Black, Cissa had been better educated in the politics of Magical Britain than most, and spending eleven years as the wife of the Dark Houses' power broker and the Minister for Magic's puppet master meant that she knew more about the politics of Magical Britain over the past ten years than anyone else they had other than Augusta, so she became the Steward for Harry's Houses, except for the House of Flamel which remained with John de Greystoke. With Augusta teaching Magical History and Culture at Hogwarts, they reorganised their group to make the best use of the Black sisters' skills, so Stewardship and voting proxies for most of the Houses of the Wizards Council Alliance was shared between Cissa and Andi, while Augusta and the rest of them could be contacted via the communications mirrors because nothing had been found to block them yet, and they had started making headway on some of the worst of the anti-creature and anti-muggle laws that had been put through in the last century or so.

As they'd noted, Hermione had inherited her driving need to research everything from Jean, so while she wasn't questioning Harry's word, she used some of her old university contacts to dig up the information about Harry's title out of the official archives. She _wasn't_ expecting to hear that the last Duke of Cumbria was in fact Duke Charlus Henry Potter _-Peverell_ , who was also the Duke of Mercia, and he _also_ held four Earldoms and seven Baronies, one Earldom and two Baronies more than his father Duke Henry Ralston Potter-Peverell had held. Jean had no doubt that Hermione knew about these other titles, and resolved to discuss this with her daughter and Son-In-Law when they could do so in private. She also got the confirmation that Baron Alastor Dougal Moody was the Baron of Doon, as Harry had said.

* * *

The recovery of Lord and Lady Longbottom soon after they had been removed from St Mungo's opened a lot of people's eyes to what had been going on there, because too many of the senior healers and members of the St Mungo's board had ended up in Azkaban for deliberately preventing the recovery of patients of St Mungo's who opposed the plans of their sponsors to keep it quiet. The Longbottoms' Yule Ball was the most monumental event in over twenty years, because Frank and Alice Longbottom weren't the only ones who'd made miraculous recoveries once the corruption in St Mungo's had been uncovered and their treatment was adjusted appropriately, and it was effectively Harry and others' 'coming out' party as well.

For all the stories they'd heard from their children and the Daily Prohet, most of the society circles of Magical Britain's exposure to any of this new force of change in their world had been restricted to seeing Harry's performances in the Wizengamot, so for the most part they were seeing the young Heads and Heirs of the Most Ancient Houses for the first time, and the poise and political acumen they showed belied their youth. Anyone who was anyone was at the Longbottoms' Ball, which made the positions in their society of anyone who _wasn't_ invited (such as Albus Jones) _quite_ clear. They'd reluctantly agreed that, as the Minister for Magic, they had to invite Cornelius Fudge, which of course meant that they also had to invite his wife and children as well. While for the most part lacking in beauty and charm, Millicent was a competent, sensible and reasonably intelligent witch who had been educated in the ways of their world, so she greeted Harry and the others appropriately and spent a while making the required small talk with them. Ronald, on the other hand, broke into Harry's conversations and accused him of destroying his entire family for no good reason, the fact that Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George and Ginny were all right there and had been enjoying themselves up until his and his father's arrival was apparently immaterial to him. To add insult to injury, he then proceeded to leer at the girls and make rather crude suggestions to them. This in turn led to him being blasted across the room by an infuriated Hermione, he hit the wall hard and fell in a broken heap on the floor and had to be sent off to St Mungo's for an extended stay to recover, because he no longer had the magic to heal himself.

Even though other families were rejoicing because their loved ones had been restored to them though, the House of Longbottom was the most notable, because Frank and Alice's baby boy was now a young man, Neville had his parents at last and Augusta was no longer struggling to hold their Houses together and raise a young boy with no-one to help her... Mind you she'd been struggling rather less since they'd all been tested and cleared of charms, bindings and potions the day that they were called in for James and Lily's will readings. Frank and Alice were currently completing an Aurors' refresher course, with Amelia's promise that they _would_ be considered for reinstatement as Aurors when they were ready.

* * *

They discovered something else of great significance on the Winter Solstice, because Xeno suddenly remembered the powerful ancient protection ritual that Lily and Pandora had uncovered in their research for the Department of Mysteries, which both the Potters and the Lovegoods had enacted on the Winter Solstice of Nineteen Eighty. In this ritual, the parents willingly sacrificed their most precious magic on the Winter Solstice to bind the gods' protection to their children. James had given up his Animagus ability and Lily had given up her talent for Alchemy to Harry, while Xeno had given up his ability to be a Seer and Pandora had given up the most arcane and powerful of her Ancient Runes talents to Luna.

It was this protection which retaliated against Riddle's curse and totally destroyed his body when he tried to kill Harry. What wasn't expected was that what soul Riddle had left at that point had split (possibly because he had already begun the ritual to create a sixth horcrux after he murdered the Potters), and half of it had been passed over the momentary link created by the curse being cast and responded to, searing one of protection runes into Harry's skin on the very spot on his forehead where Riddle's curse had hit him when it lodged in him, while the other half departed as Voldemort's shade. The protection given by his parents' sacrifices was enough to prevent Riddle's soul fragment from taking over Harry's infant psyche because it largely encapsulated the horcrux within the mark on his forehead. (This, in turn, showed just how weak Quirrell's mind had been, if the one sixty fourth of Voldemort's soul that was left after it had been halved six times was still enough to possess him, because while a barely fifteen month old infant's mind would be understandably easy to take over, a supposedly adult wizard should have been _far_ harder to take over!)

* * *

Hermione and Jean actually found that cutting Nigel out of her life lifted a great weight from both of them. Jean told him that she was going out to have lunch with her cousin's daughter on Christmas Eve and his only response was to ask when she would be home to make his dinner. She was having such a good time with Hermione and the others at the Black Townhouse that is was nearly six before she realised how late it was and called him to say that they had gotten tied up talking about the family and she wouldn't be able to make it back in time, so he'd have to make himself something or order in. Nigel wasn't at all happy about that, but Jean was becoming more and more comfortable with the fact that she didn't care at all whether he was happy or not.

Spending that time with them on Christmas Eve opened Jean's eyes to quite a few things... seeing how happy Hermione was with Harry wasn't exactly a surprise, but seeing Crookshanks change into his mngwa form for the first time just about made her wet herself, though she could certainly see how a pet who could change into a fearsome protector would be a very useful thing to have. She also got an inkling of how powerful this family was in Magical Britain, especially Hermione's unassuming young husband, from the way they were casually discussing changing laws and the like.

Jean questioning Hermione about the rest of Duke Potter-Peverell's titles gave her the opportunity to come clean with her mother about the other betrothals (luckily the fact that it was Christmas made it easy to explain why the girls and their parents were there), Nigel would never have understood or accepted the situation but Jean could understand the other girls' need to be protected by their betrothal contracts (Hermione was glad that she could honestly explain that these betrothal contracts all had escape clauses which the girls could use whenever they found a better option which would give them enough protection, because it was too soon to try and explain that they'd almost certainly all be in a plural marriage in a few years). In the end, Jean was quite happy when they popped her back to Crawley at eight thirty that night, and she had enough of a buzz from the drinks that she pretty much floated past Nigel on the way to bed.

While the still growing Wizards Council Alliance was quite happy with the developments since Harry Potter came back to their world though, the ones who had been holding the reins of Magical Britain up until the return of Dukes Potter and Black and Wizards Council Law were quite disgruntled about the changes that they had made to their world in the last five months, so many plans were being made behind closed doors to get rid of these usurpers as soon as possible so that things could go back to the way they were.


	13. Black Lady

**Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

While the kids were working their bums off with their studies, and other duties on top of that, Sirius wasn't as busy. He had his official duties, but he was devoting a lot of energy to a side project that had started back when he and Regulus were still brothers _and_ friends. What Harry and Hermione told him about what Reggie died trying to do motivated Sirius to carry through on what they'd planned as boys, updating the Black Lady.

The Black Lady was quite possibly still the world's fastest magical ship, the 135 foot three masted Bermuda Sloop was originally created in the Eighteenth Century as a privateer and smuggler's ship but she was given quite a major revision in the late Nineteenth Century. She was converted to Gaff Rigged to cram more sail onto her, and the bowspit extended and the Jib was exchanged for an oversized Genoa for the same reason. The other changes were more important and extensive…. the hull, masts and rigging were covered by Runes based Impervius Charms to reduce the drag as she moved through the water or air. The hull, frames, decks, masts, rigging and sails (black, of course, like the rest of her) were all covered by runic unbreakable, featherweight, notice-me-not and disillusionment charms and wards and the expansion charms inside the hull were made permanent with Runes. The Impervius and Featherweight Charms combined with the extra sail area were what made her by far the fastest ship in her day, several times faster than any other Magical or Muggle ship at the time, and it was debatable whether anything her size was faster even now. Ward stones and power stones were added along the entire length of the keel to power all the charms and wards, and more runic arrays were added to effectively turn the keel into a broomstick that could propel the ship over the water, under the water or through the air. The schlag-ruthes (striking rods) that were mounted down both sides of the deck as her 'ship's guns' were now Rune based and drew on the power stones to cast powerful stunning, blasting, cutting and banishing spells (and summoning charms for that matter), with the cannon balls etc being banished riding in grooves carved into the top of the schlag-ruthes.

Given that the Black Lady was the pride of the House of Black (she had been used to drag the House back from the brink of financial ruin more than a few times over the last quarter of a millennium) and their biggest secret, she held a prominent place in the hopes and dreams of the Heirs of the House, so Sirius and Regulus had spent quite a bit of time debating potential improvements to her instead of concentrating on their lessons when they were growing up (not that either of them ever did much of _that)_. There wasn't much to expand on the improvements made in the Nineteenth Century, but a new development in sail handling had come out in the Nineteen Sixties which could significantly reduce the crew requirements, roller furling, so Sirius and Regulus had discussed how to use Rune operated roller furling arrangements on the Genoa, booms and spars to allow her to be run by a crew that was a fraction of the normal size, and that was what Sirius was working on now, converting the Black Lady's rigging to roller furling.

Locating the Lady was a simple matter once he'd been cleared and accepted the title of Head of the House of Black, because they only had two bases for her, either Black Rock off the coast of Scotland or Isla Negra in the Caribbean, and the Head of the House of Black could Port Key to either. Both Black Rock and Isla Negra were located on Ley Lines, and these powered the wards which ensured that they were impregnable, unplottable and invisible. They also powered the stasis charms over the caves where the Lady was housed up out of the water to prevent deterioration, and kept the Lady's power stones charged. Sirius soon found her at Black Rock and brought in rigging and Runes experts to make the necessary upgrades. Some of these men suggested that the sail area could be further increased by changing to Gunter rigging, and Sirius gave them leave to investigate this, as he didn't really understand what they were talking about.

* * *

They should have been keeping a closer eye on Jones, and watching for whoever it was who was going to emerge to fill the vacuum left by the Death Eaters, but they didn't. Hagrid tried to talk to Aragog into taking his mate and progeny and leaving peacefully, but he barely got out of there alive after that and the memory he showed them of their discussion was disturbingly close to the one Harry and Ron had had with Aragog in the other timeline. The decision to do what Harry had told Hagrid would be necessary if Aragog wasn't prepared to be reasonable wasn't easy, but it was quickly reached, and Harry, Hermione, Hagrid and the rest of their strongest magic users got ready to burn out the nest, while the rest of the adults, Efa, Emyr, Ulfr, Snorri, Olag, Gringott, a large force of elite Goblin 'Guards' and the Centaurs were there to watch over them while they concentrated on controlling the Fiendfyre and deal with any Acromantulas that escaped the nest.

The smell of roasting Acromantula coming from the entrances to the nest, and the carcasses that Harry had seemingly casually carved up with flame whips from a second wand in his off-hand as he maintained primary control of the Fiendfyre that was burning out the nest was making them gag, but they managed to contain the Fiendfyre within the nest until it had consumed everything that it could use for fuel and burnt itself out. None of the observers failed to note how the Fiendfyre had burnt away enough of the earth around the tunnels and chambers of the nest to create the sizable depression where the nest had been.

No-one was happy about the need to wipe out hundreds, if not more, of sentient creatures like that, but they kept reminding themselves that the Acromantulas had had a choice, which was more than the Centaurs and thousands of other creatures that they'd killed over the last half century had had. It was a valuable lesson actually, to be reminded that they had…. and would most probably again in the future, been forced to face and deal with others who had no more regard for the lives of innocents than the Acromantulas had had.

Of course Jones attempted to stop them wiping out the nest, and afterwards (after the fool who called him in a panic to tell him that they were doing dark magic in the Forbidden Forest released him from where Alastor had silenced him and stuck him forty foot off the ground on the trunk of a tree) he tried to guilt them and turn public opinion against them by twisting the story of what they'd done as he railed at them in front of the students in the Great Hall to cast them in a bad light. Unfortunately for Jones, they were waiting for him to try this and Amelia was ready for him, so she silenced and immobilised him this time, then laid out the true facts of the matter for everyone, right back to the point where _he_ had supplied a mate for Aragog and then planted the memory in Hagrid that he was the one who had found her.

By the time Amelia finished telling how many students and others had disappeared in the Forbidden Forest and had probably been killed and eaten by the the Acromantulas, how many rare and wonderful creatures like the unicorns were believed to have been killed by them, how the animosity and aggression of the Centaur Nation towards the wizarding kind over the past fifty years had come from how many of their people they'd lost to the Acromantulas, and the fact that the _great_ Albus Dumbledore had repeatedly refused to help them get rid of the problem that he'd created, until they stopped asking…. She hardly needed to point out that it still wasn't safe to go into the Forbidden Forest because most everything else in there had been forced to become aggressive and dangerous, just to survive.

Amelia released Jones and Minerva sent him to his chambers once the facts of the matter were told, because leaving him immobilised after that would have most probably seen him killed. She also very publicly fired the Senior Auror who had called, and later freed, Jones in front of everyone, citing that they'd betrayed their oath to the DMLE, the Ministry and the people of Magical Britain by putting the interests of a known liar, thief and criminal over those that they'd sworn, and been paid, to support and protect. Harry and the others smirked at how many of the students were rushing off to owl their parents about what they'd just heard, knowing that the story would be all over Magical Britain by the morning, and the morning edition of the Prophet would tell everyone else.

For once, the Prophet didn't disappoint, their speculation on the damage caused by Albus Dumbledore's hubris and self serving machinations and gleeful (and surprisingly accurate) reporting of the fate of the Senior Auror who'd sided with Dumbledore against the interests of Magical Britain was a stark warning to those who were still stupid enough to be holding onto the image of him as the 'Leader of the Light'. One thing in the articles that _was_ quite a pleasant surprise was the sympathetic reporting of the situation with the Centaur Nation, and the opinion expressed that Magical Britain owed them an apology and assistance for the atrocities foisted on them by one of its more prominent members.

* * *

While this was going on at Hogwarts, Ted had been assisting Jean with her divorce proceedings. Nigel had only just stopped short of physically attacking her for ignoring his demands on Christmas Eve, and it had only gotten worse since then, because in his mind, their now dead daughter had only been holding back his plans for the future, so they were much better off without her. Jean had walked out halfway through January, she just took the few personal items that mattered to her and left, moving into the Black Townhouse with Cissa. Nigel didn't really have a leg to stand on when she left him with all of their assets aside from what she'd inherited from her family and his solicitor wasn't up to matching Ted and his team, so all of his spurious claims for damages and the Brody family assets were tossed out by the magistrate.

They had made an interesting discovery while Jean was spending time with them, that she was actually a witch…. she was only about as strong as Arabella had been when she first went to Hogwarts, but she _was_ a witch. Harry was fairly certain that he knew why Jean had been dismissed as non-magical, so he went to dredge the answers out of Albus Jones' head (this was actually the main reason he'd kept him at Hogwarts, to give himself time to harvest over a century of secrets and machinations from inside his head, and carefully remove those memories which were dangerous to others). Sure enough, once he'd become headmaster, Dumbledore had begun preventing invitations being sent to any prospective students whom he believed could potentially harm the reputation of _his_ school through lacklustre performance (the book of magical births that was used for the Hogwarts invitations, like the goblins' inheritance tests, gave an indication of how strong the child's inherent magic was). Invitations were still sent to magically weak children of powerful or connected magical families, but any so-called Muggleborns or children of families who couldn't make their voice heard who didn't show strong enough magic were scratched from the list.

Given how well transferring Percy's magic to Arabella to boost her magical strength and knowledge had worked for her, Harry did something similar with Jean, and Cissa, Andi, Ted and the others she worked with took on her magical education. Once she was free of Nigel Granger, Jean had gone back to her first love…. research. Originally the plan had been for her to do their research in the non-magical world, but now that she had magic, she was directing all of their research in both the Magical _and_ Non-Magical worlds, and she was loving it!

It was amusing for the family to watch how close Cissa and Jean were getting, as Cissa had been raised to despise Muggles and Muggleborn like Jean as something sub-human, but even with the difference in backgrounds and ten year age difference, the two women became incredibly close. Andi had no trouble admitting that Cissa was closer now to Jean than she was to her, her own sister, in fact she was happy for them, because they'd both been through a lot and they were helping each other.

* * *

As they came to the end of the 91-92 school year, the other students, Arabella and Jean were confident as they headed for their OWL exams, and Harry, Hermione and Hagrid were going well with their NEWT studies, but Harry and Hermione swore when the Prophet excitedly broke the story that the Quidditch World Cup was being held in England that year, and that it would be between Ireland and Bulgaria, because that confirmed Harry's theory that the main events of the other timeline would still be played out, just with a different cast and timeframe, was correct. Finding out that Viktor Krum was the Bulgarian team's seeker at sixteen was further proof, as was finding out that the age of majority was sixteen in Bulgaria and most of the European Magical countries.

Of course, Amelia had no more luck in getting suitable DMLE security allocated to the World Cup than she had in the other timeline, but they had the trunk flats, gloos and support of the Goblin Nation this time, so they could have the forces available when they needed them. It was rather interesting to discover that Hannah Abbott's father had replaced Barty Crouch Senior as the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and Harry saw in Jones' memories that he was working with Abbott to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts this year. Unfortunately whoever was behind them was a far more formidable opponent than Jones, Abbott or Fudge though, because it had already been formally agreed between the competing countries that it would be held in Britain, and Hogwarts was the official school of magic for Magical Britain so it _had_ to be hosted there.

They attended the World Cup in force, so that they had a reason to have tents set up in all the areas where they thought trouble could occur. Amelia had trusted Aurors and Hit Wizards waiting in each of those tents, and they were introduced to the ones in charge of the goblin guards they were told that Dukes Black and Potter had hidden from sight inside the expanded trunks there (there was no reason for anyone else to know about the gloos).

* * *

One difference from the other timeline that they found at the World Cup which actually confirmed that the Tournament would play out much the same as it had before was the fact that Jean-Pierre Delacour was attending the World Cup with his family, because he was Magical France's equivalent of the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, so he'd come to Britain to formally sign the final contracts for the Tournament on behalf of his government, and he and his family had been invited to attend the World Cup as guests of Magical Britain's Minister for Magic.

Sirius had used his money and influence to keep the fact that the House of Black had a box over twice the size of the Ministry's right beside it a secret, and Fudge, his 'supporters' and the Ministry hacks who'd managed to wrangle invites to join him were pissed off to see Arthur Weasley, Amelia Bones, Minerva McGonagall, Pomona Sprout and a number of Hogwarts professors in the Black box with Black, Potter and their allies. Jean-Pierre hadn't missed the fact that while he was having trouble keeping the wizards in the Ministry box away from his wife and daughters because of the traces of Veela allure that they couldn't help letting escape, the wizards in the Black box were showing no signs of being effected by their allure.

Hearing Fudge and his patrons complaining about Weasley and Bones gave Jean-Pierre the opening he needed, because Monsieur Weasley's achievements in improving relations between Magical Britain and both the goblins _and_ the British Muggles (as Magical Britain called the non-magical people who shared their islands), had been quite favourably reported in the ICW by Magical Britain's new representative and others, as had Madame Bones' achievements in dealing with dark wizards, so he had an excuse to give Apolline and his daughters the introductions to Monsieur Weasley, Madame Bones and their companions that Apolline so obviously wanted.

When Apolline was being introduced to Harry Potter though, he glanced at the Ministry people and other Purebloods who were trying to listen in and then quietly spoke to her in a goblin dialect that even Jean-Pierre couldn't understand, but Apolline obviously did. The way that Apolline blanched at what she was told didn't bode well, but she immediately turned and urgently whispered to him to make their apologies to the British Minister, because their family would be joining the party in the Black Box!... And if politics forced _him_ to stay, to tell them that she and their daughters had been made uncomfortable by the unwanted attention they were receiving in the Ministry box, so they would be watching the game from the Black box, where they were more comfortable.

Jean-Pierre almost challenged one of the arrogant British Purebloods to a duel then and there when he sneered and told him that he should control his creatures better after he advised Fudge that his wife and daughters were being made uncomfortable in the Ministry box, so his wife had requested that they join the party in the Black box, but he managed to get control of his rage and just tersely advised Fudge that _this_ type of behaviour was the reason that his family were not staying before stomping off to join Apolline, Fleur and Gabrielle in the Black box….. but his anger faded slightly as he saw them happily chatting with the people there.

He paled as much as Apolline had when she whispered to him what Harry had told her about the expected trouble coming that night, that the Bulgarian team's Veela mascots would need to be protected from attacks by wizards, and that Fleur and Gabrielle would be in considerable danger in the coming Triwizard Tournament. He might have discounted the first warning as paranoia, but as Veela, Apolline and their daughters were related to a number of the Bulgarian team's mascots and they had already seen enough to know that _that_ warning was quite justified as many wizards here had less control around Veela than those who were more used to them. The warning about the Triwizard Tournament was the most frightening though, because no-one outside the select group of senior government officials setting it up were supposed to know anything about that as yet, and not even Fleur knew that he had been informed that if she didn't represent France in the Tournament, the Delacour family would lose everything and be hounded out of Europe.

They blocked Apolline from sight so that Efa could pop her down to the Veela Mascots' dressing room. At first they brushed off her warnings, but two of them were daughters of her first cousins, so she had enough authority over them to make them listen. Eventually they all agreed to wait in the dressing room for her and the goblin guards who would escort them to a safe place immediately after the game. One of the other Veela had retorted that there was no way that they'd be safe with British wizards but she just looked the girl in the eye and told her that not one of these wizards had made her or her daughters at all uncomfortable, and that the young Duke who warned her about this _in formal high goblin_ was providing what were obviously elite goblin warriors to escort them to safety. That stopped them. " _But no wizards can speak high goblin!_ _That is only used for_ _the_ _formal interactions between the Goblin and Veela Nations!_ "

" _This one can! And on top of that he has warned us of things relating to a_ _coming_ _event that my husband was assured that less than a dozen senior government officials know about! Th_ _is_ _Duke is no ordinary wizard and my family at least will heed his warnings! My cousins' daughters_ ** _will_** _be coming with us, if any of you end up as wizards' sex slaves because you chose to ignore_ _his_ _warnings, on your heads be it!_ "

With that, Efa popped Apolline back up to the Black box, but not before she dropped the glamour to reveal herself as a Reeve. Needless to say, once the ones who were higher up the pecking order in Veela society explained about the Reeves, there was considerable discussion in the mascots' dressing room before they headed out to perform, because from what they said if anything having a Reeve serving him was even more astounding than what Madame Delacour had told them.

* * *

Harry and Hermione had warned Fred and George that it may not play out the way it had in the other timeline, but told them about the bet that would have paid off so well if Bagman hadn't paid them off in Leprechaun Gold. They wanted to repeat that bet, so knowing how well the twins could haggle, Hermione fronted them another 5000 galleons to bet with, on the basis that she'd get the 5000 back, plus a third of their winnings if it paid off, and if not they could pay back the 5000 when they had the chance. They all had big grins on their faces when Bagman gave them 46:1 odds for Ireland winning, but Krum catching the snitch, before he confirmed that their bet was for 5500 galleons, but he took the bet anyway, just before the Director of the DMLE stepped out of the shadows to inform him that the DMLE was keeping an overview of all betting at the World Cup to protect Magical Britain's reputation, so all legitimate winnings _would_ be paid. That almost made Bagman soil himself, but he was confident that there was no way that he'd ever have to pay off on a ridiculous bet like that anyway, and young Krum had been incredible at catching the snitch before the opposing chasers had a chance to build up much of a score since he started.

They shook their heads in disgust at the rest of the idiots in the Ministry box who were carrying on just like Ronald Fudge when the Veela Mascots were performing (and swore under their breaths at the witches with them who were stopping them from climbing over the railing to go to the Veela). Bagman scrabbled to collect as much of the Leprechaun Gold that the Irish team's Mascots were throwing into the crowd as he could, but an itching between his shoulder blades and a feeling of dread made him look around, to see Amelia watching him closely from the Black box. She just shook her head grimly when he caught her eye, and he dropped the Leprechaun Gold as if it were burning him.… The way that Ronald Fudge greedily scooped up all the coins Bagman dropped was yet another connection to the other timeline.

Bagman put his head in his hands when Krum took a bludger to the face, and at the end of the game, he furtively looked Amelia's way, hoping that he'd be able to scurry away without her noticing, but she was looking straight at him again and beckoned him over, so he had to pay the twins their winnings and bet before he was allowed to leave the box. Amelia rubbed salt in the wound by having each coin tested to ensure that it wasn't Leprechaun Gold, and then sent someone from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad with him to oversee him paying up on the other bets he took, and ensure that he took the details of the people and amounts he still had to pay when he ran out of gold, which shouldn't take too long as the twins took a lot of the gold he had, but at least more people had been betting on Bulgaria than Ireland.

* * *

Amelia left a couple of Hit Wizards in the Bulgarian Mascots' dressing room, and a couple more in their tents, and between them they arrested over a dozen wizards who came there to try and grab the Veela to force them into servitude as personal sex slaves.

The Mascots had to admit that Madame Delacour had been correct, as every one of these wizards controlled themselves and shook off the effects of the allure remarkably well, though one of the Veela got her face slapped by Madame Delacour and was told that her family would be formally advised of her behaviour when she tried to turn up her allure to get a response from them. It was the most pleasant interlude any of them had had with wizards, up until one of the goblins came in to say that there was a commotion where they'd expected at the edge of the camp anyway.

Jean-Pierre felt honour bound to take the French Aurors who were assigned to guard his family and do what he could to help protect the French and other international visitors attending the World Cup, because while not an Auror himself, he _was_ an intelligent and powerful wizard and the need to protect his Veela wife and daughters had served to hone his fighting skills quite well over the years. It _was_ noted by many of the Bulgarian visitors that while a French official and French Aurors were out there trying to protect them among other visitors, their own people had apparently hidden somewhere safe, and the Bulgarian news services carried many stories about this when they got home.

None of them were at all surprised to find that it was the Aurors, Hit Wizards and goblin guards that they'd salted around the expected problem areas who took down the false Death Eaters, but Amelia was furious when she found out that John Dawlish, who was in charge of the Minister's guards, had called all the Aurors officially on duty at the World Cup away from where they had been posted to protect the people attending the World Cup to form a cordon around Fudge's tents. Those who had abandoned their posts on the orders of someone with no authority to call them away were hard pressed to come up with a reason for her not to fire them on the spot when they were being raked over the coals back in the DMLE offices. Unfortunately she couldn't do anything to Dawlish, but word quickly got around about what happened to those who were stupid enough to answer his call.

When they examined memories of the dark mark that was cast, and cast Prior Incantato on the wand used to cast it (after it was separated from the arm that a goblin battleaxe had removed from its castor) showed that this was in fact a clever copy of Riddle's dark mark, but they didn't tell anyone else that they knew this because if someone was trying to use the Death Eater threat to create mischief, it was easier to use the same ruse in their response.

* * *

They were upset to hear that the Delacours had no way of keeping Fleur out of the Tournament when they visited them at Chateau Delacour to try and convince them that it was too dangerous for her to compete. When that failed, they showed Jean-Pierre and Apolline the confessions that showed what the ones who'd been arrested trying to abduct the Bulgarian Veela had been planning to do and explained how simply a betrothal contract could be lodged through the corrupt British Ministry of Magic, especially when the person in charge of the Ministry Department overseeing their reason for being in Magical Britain was automatically made their magical guardian if no-one else had officially taken on the role.

Unfortunately, when they suggested that Fleur would be safest if she were entered into male and female line betrothal contracts with the son of a family friend to protect her, like they'd done to protect their lot, before she went to Britain, Jean-Pierre advised that they had never had laws of that nature enacted in France, adding that they'd never been stupid enough to provoke the goblins that much when where those laws had come from was explained. Furthermore, he explained that the only friends they had with sons had their own lines to continue, and none of them had sons who weren't already locked into betrothal contracts for that purpose.

The Delacours were shocked when it was Harry's wife Hermione, who'd been raised in the non-magical world and therefore was expected to oppose things such as betrothal contracts and plural marriages, who pointed out that Harry still had one title, and was heir to another, which weren't as yet being used for betrothal contracts. That led to it being explained that Harry was Earl Flamel, Head of the British Noble and Ancient House of Flamel, and Heir to Comte Flamel, Head of the _French_ Noblesse Ancienne House of Flamel. Fleur and Gabrielle were called in and the situation was explained to them (without going into detail on the more unsavoury elements, but Fleur had heard enough from other girls to understand what they were getting at). They were both enchanted with Harry Potter, even after it was explained to Gabrielle that there was no truth in the stories she'd read about him, so they readily agreed to being entered into betrothal contracts with him.

Jean-Pierre called the family avocat to the chateau while they contacted Ted to come up with ironclad betrothal contacts that would cover them legally in both Magical Britain and Magical France, as they were being lodged in Magical Britain to make use of the British laws for male and female line betrothal and marriage contracts, and both houses were French for one set of contracts but Harry was a British citizen. What they agreed on was male and female contracts between Harry, as Head of the British Noble and Ancient House of Flamel, and Gabrielle, as Heiress to the French Noblesse Ancienne House of Dubois, while the other male and female contracts were between Harry, as Heir to the French Noblesse Ancienne House of Flamel and Fleur, as Heiress to the French Noblesse Ancienne House of Delacour (Nicolas Flamel flooed in to sign those contracts as Head of the French Noblesse Ancienne House of Flamel). They also formally made Sirius, as Duke Black, the legal Magical Guardian of both Fleur and Gabrielle in Magical Britain and formally lodged all the paperwork via the British and French goblins.

This meant that Harry was wearing _another_ two betrothal rings, and Fleur and Gabrielle went back to Beauxbatons wearing their betrothal rings on display, as well as their Heiress rings. This was an attempt to ward off the male students who were constantly coming on to them, and hopefully reduce the amount of animosity directed at them by the other girls, who seemed to have the idea fixed in their heads that Veela were just waiting to steal their boyfriends away from them.

Private discussions with Jean-Pierre clarified the reason for the timing of the start of the Triwizard Tournament in this timeline, because Fleur didn't turn sixteen until a week before Halloween, so the French government would have insisted that the Tournament couldn't begin until _after_ she became of age, because the requirement for all competitors to be of age in their countries had been made up front due to the expected furore when the bloody history of the tournament was uncovered would only be worse if people ever discovered that they were exposing _minors_ at that much risk.

Hermione burst out laughing when she and Harry went to look at the Potter family tapestry after Fleur and Gabrielle's betrothals had been magically confirmed, saying. "On behalf of myself and my other wives to be, may I offer our thanks that you have not used the divorces, imprisonment and beheadings that your namesake did to get _his_ six wives my Lord?"

Harry just looked at her, confused, until she nodded at the tapestry and he groaned and banged his head on the wall when he took a closer look, because he was identified there as Henry Potter VIII. He knew that while the others wouldn't get the link themselves, Hermione and Jean would make sure that they all knew about Henry the Eighth and his six wives before too long. Hermione just laughed again, kissing him and leading him back to the others.

* * *

Minerva and Pomona were called to the Ministry to be informed about the Tournament a couple of days before the school year started. When they arrived, Abbott, Bagman and Jones were waiting with Fudge, along with the Umbitch, so they knew what this was about from what Harry and Hermione had told them. Fudge and the others were ropeable when Minerva and Pomona stood their ground and insisted that Hogwarts' official legal representative go over the Tournament contracts and confirm that Hogwarts was legally required to host and be involved in the Tournament.

Ted took his time going through the contracts and clarifying every detail before he grudgingly agreed that Hogwarts, as the official school of magic for Magical Britain, was legally required to host and participate in the Tournament. He did, however, manage to force the Ministry to formally provide a legal addendum which officially stated that Albus Jones' involvement in the Tournament was purely as an official representative of the British Ministry of Magic, _not_ as a representative of Hogwarts, and Minerva advised Jones that Hogwarts would not be paying for him to work on the Tournament.

He then forced them to provide _another_ legal addendum which formally confirmed that the _six_ Judges for the Tournament would be the Head of each school and each country's equivalent of the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, or their delegates, because they were trying to insist that Dumbledore would be the Judge for Hogwarts, and Abbott and Bagman would both be judges as well, while France and Bulgaria would only have the Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang voting, so Britain would have had three judges while Bulgaria and France only had one. They only gave in when Ted and Minerva told them flat out that unless they had a formally binding legal agreement from the Ministry to guarantee that the judging would be fair and equitable across all three participating countries, the matter would have to be formally decided in the ICW courts (which would of course take months). When Ted suggested that they contact Monsieur Delacour, who he'd met at the Quidditch World Cup, to get France's official position on the question, they had the legal paperwork formally lodged within half an hour.

Unfortunately, Ted couldn't find any way to justify forcing any change to the contract which would allow them to get Harry out if he was entered by someone else as they were sure would happen, because whoever the puppet master was this time had been clever enough to stipulate that it would be a binding contract for the one who's magical signature matched the blood used to seal the entry, and that was pretty much the standard definition of a magically binding contract.

Another problem they had was they they couldn't get their hands on the documentation that stipulated how the goblet of fire was configured for the tournament, because Jones and Abbott argued that would give Hogwarts an unfair advantage, even when Ted suggested that all three schools be provided with the documentation, they refused to budge, which in itself told Ted and Minerva that this was how they set it up to trap Harry into the Tournament.

When they sent Jean-Pierre a copy of the addendums that they'd forced out of the Ministry of Magic, he was both amused and aggravated, because they proved that he hadn't been shown the full documentation, even though he was the one who had been required to sign the final contracts on behalf of France. He had news for them too, because in secret talks with Beauxbatons' Headmistress Olympe Maxime she had confessed that the government was holding her status as a half giantess over her head to force her cooperation with the Tournament. She was reportedly relieved to hear that the Headmistress of Hogwarts was aware of what was going on, and was looking forward to working with her to try and protect their students in this. Jean-Pierre said that she was quite distraught when he informed her that their government would be ensuring that Fleur would be Beauxbatons' Champion. When he mentioned that it was almost certain that Victor Krum would be Durmstrang's Champion though, she'd apparently started swearing about how much she hated the idea of having to deal with that foul creature Karkaroff. Jean-Pierre couldn't work out why they all burst out laughing at that, but Harry eventually got himself under control enough to explain that Karkaroff was a marked Death Eater, and Hogwarts' wards were set to attack the Death Eaters' dark marks when they crossed her boundaries, so they expected to see Karkaroff replaced as Durmstrang's representative quick smart when they told the Ministry that it wasn't possible to turn Hogwarts' anti dark object wards off without dropping the wards altogether, and they couldn't do _that_ because it would put the students at risk, as all the parents would of course agree when they heard about the problem. Jean-Pierre joined in the laughter then, because they obviously had the Ministry over a barrel with the open threat to tell all the parents if they tried to insist that they drop Hogwarts' wards to allow a marked Death Eater in.

* * *

Everyone who did their OWLs and NEWTs in their group did well, Ginny, Neville, Arabella and Jean did the worst in the OWLs, and they still managed mainly 'EE's and 'O's with one or two 'A's. Harry and Hermione had only been revising most of the subjects, so they'd done most of their OWLs back in the Christmas break, getting straight 'O's, which meant that their end of year exams had been mostly NEWTs. They were also working through their non-magical secondary education and taking their exams externally, but they'd both gotten a leg up with that through independent study while they were hiding in the library right through primary school, and they would be working in earnest on their various masteries and the rest of their NEWTs in the coming year, but the whole group was in their NEWT years now, something which would almost certainly confound and enrage others when they discovered this.

The one who was most likely to be enraged was glaring at the groups sitting at the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables from his place at the end of the High Table with a vindictive gleam in his eye, because he knew from his meetings with Anthony that everything was in play to ensure that Potter's name would come out of the Goblin of Fire on Halloween…. The fact that they insisted on having another British competitor to go on and win after Potter was killed off because Magical Britain had to be seen to do well against the Europeans was problematical, but they'd gotten around that by hiding the fact that Harry Potter was actually being secretly entered under the auspices of the Jafar School of Sorcery in Saudi Arabia because of that damned rule written into the contracts that all competitors had to have reached the age of majority in their own countries by the start of the Tournament, and Saudi Arabia was the only country where a twelve year old like him could meet that requirement, at least he'd already reached puberty.

Jones was infuriated when Potter and his associates were quietly talking to each other all through his rousing speech about winning eternal glory in the Triwizard Tournament, so he publicly chastised him, but Potter threw it straight back at him.

"Was I preventing any potential competitors hearing what you were saying about the Triwizard Tournament Mister Jones?"

"No but…."

"If you must know I'd already decided that I had no intention of entering a dangerous contest of this nature even _before_ you mentioned that pesky requirement to have reached your age of majority before the Tournament begins, so as neither I nor any of my friends will have reached the age of majority in Magical Britain by then, what you were saying was for the older students rather than us, was it not Mister Jones?"

"Yes, but…."

"You appear to be confused about this Mister Jones, perhaps this will help clear the matter up for you."

With that he stood and when he spoke, his voice carried clearly into every corner of the hall. "I, Duke Henry James Potter, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, swear on my life and magic that I will not enter myself in the Triwizard Tournament, and nor will I request or induce or knowingly allow any others to enter me in the Triwizard Tournament as I have absolutely no wish to participate in the Triwizard Tournament…. So Mote it Be!"

There was a flash as magic accepted his vow, and then he cast a 'Lumos!' that almost blinded everyone in the Great Hall with its intensity.

Once he'd proven that he still had his magic he continued in the same voice. "Is that clear enough for you Mister Jones? As I still have my life and magic, that should be a clear indication to everyone here that I have no intention of entering the Triwizard Tournament or having anyone else enter me in the Tournament, and I most definitely do _not_ wish to participate in the Triwizard Tournament! Therefore if I _do_ end up being entered into your damned Tournament and still have my life and magic, it will _obviously_ have to have been done without my knowledge or agreement. However, given that you have stated that entry into the Tournament will form a binding contract, which implies that penalties will apply for non-participation, if someone _does_ manage to enter me against my will, I acknowledge that I will _grudgingly_ participate, but I can assure you that I will hunt down and kill any and all of the bastards responsible for entering me into that death trap! Have I clarified the situation for you Mister Jones?"

Jones just stared at him in horror, thinking that entering the brat in the contest may not be such a good idea after all, this boy had obviously gone dark, perhaps it would be a better idea to just let sleeping dogs lie?

He belatedly realised that Pomona had done nothing to rebuke the boy for the language and tone he used, but when he turned to look at her, both her and Minerva's expressions seemed to be saying that they wished he'd just die, so he refrained from saying anything.


	14. Damned Tournament

**Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

The method they'd used to obtain his blood to enter him into the Tournament was fairly obvious. It was made to look like a prank gone wrong, but the crush of people genuinely trying to help on top of whoever it was trying to get a sample of his blood made it impossible to be certain who or how many people swabbed his blood from the many minor cuts that were a result of the small explosion on the table in front of them (though he was certain that Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan had been part of it).

The day before Halloween, the Beauxbatons delegation arrived in their cottage sized flying carriage, but they had to laugh when Fleur was the only Beauxbatons student who appeared to know how to cast a warming charm, because the rest of them just stood there shivering in their stylish robes which may have been a good idea in the south of France, but most certainly _weren't_ a good idea in Scotland in winter with snow on the ground.

After a year of hard work and paying attention to his appearance and manners, Hagrid was a fine figure of a man (perfectly sized for her to boot), so Olympe was making no attempt to hide the appreciative looks she was giving her fellow half giant when she was introduced to him. Fleur was just as obvious when she ran up to kiss and embrace Harry and the rest of the group. When asked about this, she just said that she'd met them and become friends at the Quidditch World Cup.

Fleur stayed with Harry and the others when her Headmistress led her shivering schoolmates into the castle, partly because she'd missed them, but more because the feral grin on Harry's face promised that the show when the Durmstrang delegation arrived would be worth it.

About ten minutes after the Beauxbatons delegation went inside, the water began stirring out in the middle of Black Lake and the masts of the Durmstrang ship broke through the surface. Once it stopped bobbing up and down atop the water, the ship headed for the shore, propelled by magic. Fleur could hear Harry quietly counting down until the ship reached Hogwarts' wards, then they heard an almighty scream, followed by furious swearing in Bulgarian and a few other languages and shouted demands to turn the ship around and get him out of there!

The ship retreated outside the wards, and then they heard the loud 'crack!' of a clumsy disapparation before it turned around and charged at the shore again. A teacher on the ship hardly waited for the gangplank to be extended before he jumped off and rushed up to the castle, demanding that whatever attacked their headmaster be turned off and whoever was responsible be turned over to them for justice to be served.

The blustering fool was almost apoplectic when Harry just burst out laughing at that and he started screaming at him, but suddenly shut his mouth when he was hit full force by Harry's baleful glare as Harry began speaking in a quiet voice that easily carried to both the Durmstrang delegation waiting on the ship, and the ones huddled in the entrance to Hogwarts. "You _demand_ that we drop the wards that are in place to protect well over a thousand students and others in order to accommodate one man who was evil enough to willingly agree to be branded with a dark object by a psychopathic mass murderer, do you? We are aware that Professor Karkaroff is a marked Death Eater who willingly served the Half-blood pretender who styled himself as Lord Voldemort. Hogwarts was given no choice about hosting this Tournament, but we will _not_ remove the protections that are in place for our students and visitors just to suit one animal who escaped his well deserved fate by betraying his fellow Death Eaters. Your delegation can remain here for the Tournament _without_ the Death Eater, or return to Bulgaria with him, these are Durmstrang's only choices…. And for your information, there is a standing order in Magical Britain for any and all Death Eaters to be questioned under Veritaserum and then punished for their crimes."

They heard another loud 'Crack!' of a clumsy disapparation from the direction of Hogwarts' gates and Harry gave a grim smile. "It would appear that Karkaroff has made his choice, I suggest that you contact your masters to get your orders about what to do with your students Mister….?"

The man was belatedly realising that there was obviously more to this boy than he understood and tried a safer route. "Popov…. that is _Professor_ Popov, Master of Defence for Durmstrang! Who are you?"

"Mind your tone _Professor_ Popov! I am Duke Henry James Potter, Head of the British Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter and Heir to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black! As I said, I would suggest that you seek instruction from your school and your government as to what to do with Mister Krum and your other students post haste, as my understanding is that they will only have a day to enter themselves into the Tournament if they choose to participate."

With that, he turned and walked up to the entrance with the others.

On the Durmstrang ship, the other students were looking at Viktor Krum and asking him how this Duke Potter knew that he would be there, while up in Hogwarts' entrance, Olympe shared a grim smile with Minerva, as it appeared that this gods be damned tournament could prove to be quite interesting! The old man trying to hide in the shadows, however, was looking quite worried as he tried to work out how Potter could know so much about the tournament and Karkaroff, he must advise Anthony of these new developments!

* * *

Popov demanded, and was grudgingly granted, access to a floo to request instructions. Karkaroff's replacement (Dimitri Branimir, Durmstrang's Deputy Headmaster) arrived with Nikoli Miroslav, the Head of their equivalent to the Department for Magical Games and Sports at the start of the Welcoming Feast, and he found it as disturbing as Popov when this Duke Potter turned to give them a chilling look when Popov began telling him about the altercation when they arrived. Tony Abbott and Albus Jones had a similar experience when Jones was whispering to Abbott about how much Potter seemed to know.

Abbott had obviously decided that everything that was going wrong with their plan was Harry's fault, because he was concentrating on trying to stare him down rather than what he was saying as he explained the changes to the judging for the Tournament as well as the other rules, and this in turn led to an angry discussion with Miroslav, who was demanding to know what the arrangements had been _before_ it was changed to this fair and equitable arrangement. The Bulgarians had only agreed to be part of this tournament so that they could use the fame of the youngest seeker in the history of professional Quidditch to improve their country's image. They had believed that the late notice of who had to attend to be part of the judging panel was just finalising the details, _not_ a change to what had been planned as Abbott let slip. Finding out that the British had planned to control the judging panel with their people to influence the scores of the tournament meant that there would be some serious discussions going on between the Bulgarian and British governments.

Louis Rosier, the French government's representative, didn't care one way or another, his master's plan was just to use the Tournament eliminate the threat posed to the current regime by Delacour by killing off his half-breed spawn and ending his line, and if they could pin the blame on the half-breed Headmistress, all the better. The plan was to do this in the second task, because it was perfect for what they were after. Veela powers centred around fire and air, and Veela and Mers were mortal enemies, so having Delacour's Heir attempt an underwater rescue of her sister from the Mers…. there was no way that they could survive that! Of course they'd need to ensure that there was no way that anyone could identify who was responsible afterwards, but Mers were weak minded creatures and it shouldn't be too difficult to set enough of them off on a rampage to kill the rest of the hostages, competitors and creatures in the Mers' village.

Of course…. Potter should be gone by then, that Horntail that they were arranging for him to face in the first task was a nasty piece of work, she'd already killed her mate and half a dozen handlers before she had the clutch, and she'd be twice as dangerous now! So, eliminate Potter in the first task and the Veela and hopefully the rest of the competitors and their hostages in the second, then all they had to do was have it come out that the Tournament was all the British's idea and they'd be totally discredited, they just had to make sure that they got what they wanted before the rest of Europe came in to pick over the bones once the British were brought down. He nodded to himself at that, yes... that should serve their plans well enough.

* * *

Albus was shocked when Arabella Figg _levitated_ the Goblet of Fire's casket into the Great Hall, because the woman hadn't been much more than a Squib before he bound her magic, so how could she be displaying this much magic now? He was also furious that Bones had stayed on for the proceedings after she came to investigate why a marked Death Eater had been trying to get into Hogwarts, and then she, McGonagall and the other Hogwarts professors had supported Potter when he had the gall to openly question the veracity of the controls offered by the age line he said that he'd cast around the Goblet where it would be on display in the Great Hall. The brat had stood there and sprouted a pile of nonsense about how easily the age line could be bypassed, saying that between having his parents murdered by a monster eleven years ago and the castle being invaded by several mountain trolls last year as soon as he returned, he had a history of bad luck on Halloween in the Magical World, so he wanted assurances that all reasonable measures were being taken to ensure that no-one could enter him in the Triwizard Tournament against his will. As a result of that, Bones and the other busybodies had insisted that the Goblet be placed in a separate chamber off the Great Hall, with Aurors and teachers from all three schools watching it, _as well as_ the age line at the doorway into the chamber, and that every student coming into the chamber to enter themselves into the Branimir tournament be made to confirm that the name recorded on the slip they were putting into the Goblet of Fire was in fact their's.

That had forced him to waste half the night setting an illusion over Potter's entry slip that would be strong enough to convince the guards that it was actually the entry slip for one of the Gryffindor Seventh Year's who was entering himself in the tournament, but disappear as soon as it went into the Goblet, then use slight of hand in class to switch the slips without anyone noticing. He patted himself on the back for a job well done when he saw the stupid boy coming out of the chamber after he had supposedly entered himself into the tournament successfully.

* * *

Harry was getting angrier and angrier as he waited for the names to come out of the Goblet of Fire, because while he was certain that his name would come out of the Goblet, he didn't know who put it in there or how they did it. Amelia was ready to duck in and grab the slip before anyone could do anything to it, but all he could do was wait for the axe to fall.

When Fleur's name came out as the Champion for Beauxbatons, she rose and gracefully headed for the chamber where the Goblet had been sitting through the day, pausing to curtsy to Madame Maxime and Professor McGonagall, but ignoring everyone else involved in the tournament.

The way that Viktor Krum angrily stood and marched to the chamber with no more than a perfunctory bow to the High Table when he was announced as Durmstrang's Champion made it fairly obvious that he had been entered against his will as well.

From the way Terence Higgs jumped up and strutted to the chamber when he was announced as Hogwarts' Champion, he'd been expecting this, and he didn't seem to have been forced to enter the Tournament. Then Harry held his breath, hoping against hope that he was wrong and his name wouldn't come out this time, but then the flames flared up again.

The triumphant look on Jones' face as he called out "Harry Potter!" almost without looking at the slip proved that the bastard was involved in this, but the way Amelia's shoulders drooped and she said "Come with me please Duke Potter, we will have to try and work this out." after she snatched the slip from him to check what was written on it confirmed what he already knew, that unless by some chance they'd used the wrong blood on the slip, he would be forced to participate.

* * *

The others in the chamber looked on wide eyed as Fleur greeted Harry with a teary kiss and embrace, and the muttering grew louder when Harry then openly offered commiserations to Viktor for being forced into this as well, and Viktor returned the sentiment, adding more for Fleur when she confirmed that she had also been forced to compete.

Harry looked up when Amelia, Minerva, Poppy, Filius, Angela and Sirius came out of the huddle over the slip that was used to enter him, but Amelia shook her head resignedly before addressing Jones and Abbott. "Mister Jones, Mister Abbott, I understand that the two of you were the key organisers of this tournament… is that correct?"

Bagman tried to interject that he was as well, but one look from her shut him up and then she looked back at Jones and Abbott, waiting for an answer. Jones tried his usual crap. "Yes Amelia, we were, why do you ask?"

"It is _also_ my understanding that this tournament was supposed to have been between the three major schools of magic in Europe, Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, is that correct…. _Albus_?"

He was a little more hesitant this time. "Yes?"

"Well how in the seven hells do you explain an entry from a _fourth_ school that none of _us_ have ever heard of… the Jafar School of Sorcery in Saudi Bloody Arabia, being accepted?"

He immediately fell back on his old standard, an attempt at misdirection. "I don't know Amelia, did you do this Harry? Did you enter yourself from this school?"

Harry pulled out his Rowan wand, blasting a chair in the corner into smithereens and then hissed at him.

"That is _Duke Potter_ to you old man! And as you bloody know well unless your memory is failing, I made a vow on my life and magic in front of you and the rest of Hogwarts not two months ago that I would _not_ enter myself into your damned contest, and nor would I request, induce or knowing allow anyone else to enter me into your damned tournament either!" He pointedly glanced at the smouldering wreckage in the corner. "As it would appear that I still have my magic, I obviously _didn't_ bloody enter myself! I've never heard of that damned school, which my geography training tells me definitely _isn't_ in Europe, and how the hell did your vaunted controls to ensure that only those who were of age could enter the tournament fail?"

"Control yourself Harr…." Harry's wand rose to point unerring at a spot right between his eyes and Jones anxiously corrected. "Duke Potter! You will show proper respect to the school and government officials in this room!"

The temperature seemed to drop when Harry replied. "I am showing the idiots who organised this farce that three of us have been forced into more respect than they deserve!…" He paused and glanced at the school representatives "But I do apologise if I have failed to show due respect to anyone _not_ responsible for the mess we find ourselves in..." Olympe, Minerva, Filius and Professor Branimir all nodded to him, acknowledging that the young man had a right to be angry, and mostly happy that the anger wasn't directed at them, but Jones, Abbott and Bagman were angry at the continued slights against them. "However…. neither Director Bones' question about how a fourth school from _outside_ of Europe was added into the tournament, nor my question about how the supposed controls to ensure that only those who were of age could be entered into the tournament failed have been answered! Was this _Tri_ wizard Tournament restricted to the nominated three schools or not?"

Abbott sparked up now. "Do not talk to your betters like that Potter! Just shut up and do as you're told you stupid boy!"

Amelia put a hand on Harry's shoulder to calm him down, as he was ready to explode, and then turned to Abbott. "Who is the champion of the _Minor_ House of Abbott, Mister Abbott?"

"What?"

"Are you deaf, or merely too stupid to comprehend a simple question? I asked you who your House's champion is Mister Abbott. You have just abused, ridiculed and insulted _Duke_ Henry James Potter, _Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter and Heir to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black._ Under the Most Ancient House rules of Magical Britain, Duke Potter _must_ demand satisfaction now, because someone of his station cannot ignore a slight of that magnitude, but while from the evidence of that chair, he is most probably quite capable of dealing with you himself, as one of his nominated guardians I must respectfully request that he leave the matter in the hands of one of his three champions…. or perhaps one of his two primary guardians, as Duke and Duchess Black appear to be almost as angry as Duke Potter is at this slight, so once again…. who is your champion, or do you actually have the fortitude to try and face one of Duke Potter's champions yourself?…. Though if he is feeling very charitable, Duke Potter _may_ decide to just take everything belonging the House of Abbott in compensation."

" _What?_ He… he can't do that!"

"You really should have learned the rules of Magical Britain before you attacked Duke Potter Mister Abbott, for insults such as you have offered to someone of Duke Potter's station, he can and indeed is expected to do that and much, much more to you and your insignificant house, and he has done so to others of higher station than you before this. I can't believe that you can be ignorant of this after what has been happening in Magical Britain since last August.… you only had to read the Daily Prophet to see it and if your daughter hasn't been telling you what has been going on at Hogwarts for over a year, she would be almost the only one! Now…. while Duke Potter is considering the fate of you and your house, I would suggest that you try to be as helpful as you possibly can, in hope that it _may_ induce him to be more lenient…. Duke Potter asked you two questions, what is your answer?"

Abbott was trying not to faint at the thought of losing everything, even his life…. and hoping against hope that the people he worked for would save him, but he realised that he had to give these people _something_ if he was to have any hope of lasting long enough to get help, so thinking fast he carefully worded his reply. "We didn't believe that it was necessary to specify the schools that were involved because we never expected any entries other than from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang…. and I am uncertain exactly how the Goblet determined that entries qualified as being of age before they were accepted in the tournament, but the documents were quite clear that that was the case." He certainly wasn't going to admit that it had taken them months to dig up the name of the last official school of magic they'd had in Saudi Arabia (which had closed nearly two hundred years ago) to use for Potter because the rules there said that you're of age as soon as you hit puberty!

Amelia glanced at Harry and he gave her a subtle nod, as they may as well try to get the bloody thing cancelled, or get these bastards to bury themselves if it wasn't.

"Then as one of the officials responsible for the running of the tournament, are you prepared to formally attest that Duke Potter has legally attained his age of majority, as he has been accepted by the Goblet to compete in the Triwizard Tournament Mister Abbott?"

"Well…." He sensed that there was a trap in there somewhere but was more interested in saving his own skin at this point. "Yes! I attest that Duke Potter and the other champions in the Triwizard Tournament have all legally attained their age of majority."

Amelia nodded and turned to Jones. "Mister Jones, as one of the nominated Ministry officials responsible for the running of this tournament, do you also agree that Duke Potter has legally attained his age of majority, as is officially required for him to compete in the Triwizard Tournament?"

"What is the purpose of this questioning Amelia?"

"Yes or no…. _Albus_! Unless the appointed tournament officials formally attest that Duke Potter legally meets the requirements to compete in the Triwizard Tournament, the entire tournament _must_ be cancelled because he can neither compete or withdraw, surely you must be able to see that?"

The repercussions of being held responsible for having the entire tournament cancelled after so much money and political influence had been spent on making it happen flashed through his head and what to do was clear to him. "Yes! I attest that Duke Potter and the other champions in the Triwizard Tournament have legally attained their age of majority."

Amelia just looked at Bagman. "Of course! They are all legally of age to compete in the tournament!"

She just looked at them for a little longer. "Very well, as we have unfortunately confirmed that this entry that someone else put in for Duke Potter is indeed sealed with his blood, Headmistress McGonagall has advised me that from Hogwarts' legal representative's advice, Duke Potter is therefore legally and magically bound to compete under the terms of the tournament contracts. Given that the three Ministry officials responsible for the running of the Triwizard Tournament have all formally confirmed that the evidence proves that Duke Potter is legally of age, I must allow the tournament to continue, but my department will be investigating the entry that put Duke Potter in the tournament as it shows clear signs of being enchanted. We will pursue the matter until we determine who it was who entered him and they _will_ be punished!"

She turned to Harry. "You have my assurance that we will not let this rest Duke Potter, but unfortunately you are required to compete in this tournament that you have been entered into against your will. I hold my department partly responsible as this was done under my people's noses, so if there is any training or assistance you require to enable you to compete safely and effectively, let me know and I will do everything in my power to arrange it…."

She glanced at Abbott. "Now…. the question remains in regard to what reparations you require of Mister Abbott and the House of Abbott for his insults. Will you require Mister Abbott to meet one of your champions, do you claim what the House of Abbott owns, or both?"

Harry looked critically at Abbott and shook his head. "I'd rather not insult any of my champions by making them deal with something like that Director Bones.…" He quickly turned to Angela to cover his smile as Ulfr and Snorri solemnly bowed to him in thanks at that. "Regent, what does the House of Abbott have that's worth claiming?"

Angela shook her head musingly. "Not much My Lord. They do own a few nice properties that they're currently hiding under holding companies here and on the continent, but we'd have to clear out the people currently living in them….. the family businesses here and on the continent are moderately profitable, they have a number of house elves who appear to be good workers, and there's two or three hundred thousand galleons in their vaults but that's about it, unless you wish to claim the daughter for a plaything?"

Harry screwed up his face. "Oh my gods no! I'd be afraid of what I'd catch from her, the amount _she's_ been passed around already!…"

He stopped to think for a moment. "Okay…. Empty out those properties and claim them and the businesses if you believe that they're worthwhile, take any of the elves that are worth claiming and the gold…. Do you believe that I should call for an oath from the Head of House that the House of Abbott will never act against me or my houses and allies again?"

It was Angela's turn to look at Abbott critically. "If it conflicts with an oath he's already made to act against you it could kill him…. but I don't believe that you can afford _not_ to My Lord, he has the look of someone who's likely to try and come after you because of the perceived insult, even though he's the one who offered the insult."

Harry nodded. "Do you have a suitable oath available?"

Ten minutes later, Abbott had made the oath, and while it obviously _did_ conflict with a previous oath he'd made from the way he struggled with it, there wasn't enough specific conflict between the oaths to kill him. Harry felt a little guilty for half wishing that it had, as the arrogant bastard had infuriated him and he had obviously been prepared to take an oath to act against him.

When Bagman called on Abbott to give the Champions (and Duke Potter, as he insisted that he was no school's champion and should not be called that) their instructions, Abbott bit out the terse, pre-prepared lines which basically said that they'd have to find out on the day what it was and then stormed out, furious about how he and his house had been humiliated.

* * *

Afterwards, Fleur came back to Corvus Tower with Harry and the rest of them, because it had been agreed with Madame Maxime before they left France that she'd be staying with them, and they all sat down to discuss what had happened in the chamber. They started with Amelia, who told them that Jones must have another wand somewhere because the magical signature on the slip didn't match anything they had recorded for him, but she was sure he'd done it… but she stopped and asked. "I don't like the girl, but does Hannah Abbott _really_ get around as much as you said she does in there at thirteen Harry?"

Harry grinned. "Not having had anything to do with her, I wouldn't really know Auntie Ami, but the comments I hear at mealtime seem to say that she tries to. I just wanted to slap her father down to size, but I _was_ serious about the fact that I'd never touch something like her, I'm quite happy with the people in my life and don't have any interest in anyone else."

That earned him a kiss from Hermione. She'd been quite scandalised by what he'd said in there but was furious about Abbott's comments to him, and remembered what sort of girl Hannah Abbott turned out to be in the other timeline, so she decided to let him off the hook.

They then quizzed Angela about the value of what they were claiming off the Abbotts. There were half a dozen significant properties in the south of France and around the Mediterranean which probably represented the majority of the worth of the Abbotts, so they'd obviously been hiding their money in them and she'd be claiming those, but they had a few more which would cost more than they were worth to fix up, including their home, which Angela would leave them. Most of the businesses were better money spinners and worth more than they'd been made out to be (especially the core import/export businesses), so they were being claimed, but the Abbotts could keep the dodgy ones that were making a loss and had no inherent value. About a dozen of their elves appeared to be skilled and young enough to be valuable and able to adapt, and they'd be better treated in Harry's family anyway so they'd be claimed. The Abbotts had more gold than Angela indicated she knew about, as Tony Abbott's and the Abbott family vaults actually held over half a million galleons between them, that wasn't enough to really make a difference to Harry, but she'd be claiming all of it to slap Abbott down, because more than a little of the Abbots' wealth had come from Harry via Dumbledore. While they were taking between four and five million galleons off the Abbotts all up, their _official_ worth of one million galleons was only being halved, so the House of Abbott had been doing the vast majority of its business under the table, which was rather suspicious for a supposedly respectable house.

What they were claiming wouldn't destroy the Abbotts, but it would make their real circumstances rather tight and it would take a lot of work for them to recover. Perhaps more to the point, Tony Abbott would be tearing his hair out, trying to work out how they'd known so much about where he was hiding all the money, and that in turn would probably make him worry about what _other_ secrets they knew about, so with any luck he would be bright enough to stay well away from them from now on. The message being sent was that they could have easily destroyed him and the House of Abbott if they chose, but they'd been lenient _this_ time.

They used the gloo to go to Gringotts straight away and submit the memories to show that the three nominated Ministry officials running the tournament had formally confirmed that Harry had legally reached his age of majority, which was more than enough to have the fact officially accepted under the current requirements, and Hermione qualified as well as the wife of someone who had been accepted as of age. Under the Most Ancient House laws that applied to both of them none of this was really required, but Gringott started the process for both of them to give to Fudge and his supporters a slap in the face because once the evidence was accepted and lodged in the system, their status could not be challenged under the current rules.

Gringott also started the process to transfer everything that they'd decided to claim from the House of Abbott, so when Tony Abbott rushed into Gringotts the next day to try and move things around to save those parts of their fortune that he believed he'd managed to keep hidden, he got quite a nasty shock.

* * *

When they went down to breakfast the next morning, there were quite a few looks directed their way, but before the students had been dismissed the night before, Pomona had announced that the DMLE had confirmed that Duke Potter had entered by someone else, using an enchanted entry slip to cover up their actions. She'd also reminded the Hogwarts students of the magical oath that Harry had made, saying that he'd given the officials a demonstration which proved that he had most definitely _not_ lost his life and magic, which in turn proved that he had _not_ been involved in his being entered into the Tournament.

It was obvious that some of the students, especially the Slytherins, wanted to say something about it, but Higgs had reported how Harry and his family had utterly destroyed the Head of the Department of Magical Cooperation, and how he couldn't do a thing about it when they'd been taunting him with the fact that they could do anything they liked to him and his house. What Higgs _hadn't_ shared with his house mates, but owled his father about straight away, was how horrified Abbott had been when he saw how many of what he'd obviously believed to be well kept secrets Potter's people had uncovered, because that was the sort of thing that made players of the game dangerous.

Terence was Slytherin enough to know not to go up against someone who was too cunning or powerful to beat…. they'd all had a glimpse of how powerful the House of Potter could be when Potter came into their world over a year ago, but now he'd seen that Potter and his people were cunning as well, if not bloody brilliant…. and there was no way that he would be going up against people like that unless his father directly ordered him to. Given that his father was the one who taught him how to play the game, that wasn't likely to happen.

He knew that his father had aligned himself with Abbott and the people behind him after Potter and his people destroyed the Dark Houses' power base last year because their family businesses had been dealing with the Abbotts' for decades and having a strong and stable group behind them protected their house, but he was confident that his father would have made arrangements to ensure that they couldn't drag him down with them…. It was now looking like a better bet would be to align themselves with Potter's people, but how to do it…. feed him some of the information that the people behind Abbott gave them to help get ahead in the tournament, tell him something real like the fact that they would be facing dragons in the first task to get on his good side? That seemed the more prudent option but he'd have to wait and see what Dad's response was.

Of course Harry already knew about the dragons from the other timeline, so he had been regularly visiting Charlie's reserve and the one which supplied the Welsh Greens as well for most of the last year, talking to the dragons and their handlers and convincing them that the safest plan for the dragons, their eggs and the humans who were being forced to deal with them was to work together. They also got the dragons used to the idea of sitting on fake eggs and trusting other nesting mothers to mind their eggs for them when they had to do something which would endanger them, and they'd practised putting on a show for the ones who came looking for dragons for this, so when Abbott and the others came to Charlie's reserve and Charlie gave her the signal, Snazak the Horntail had put on her act. The handlers played along, telling them to stay back because that one had been dangerous before, but she was worse now that she had a clutch of eggs to look after. None of them were at all surprised when Abbott and co insisted that the Horntail had to be one of the dragons they provided for the tournament.

When Higgs came to him and told him about the dragons, Harry took a look inside his head and saw that he was basically feeling him out on behalf of his father with a view to changing allegiances. Discussions with the others garnered the consensus that the House of Higgs had the connections and temperament to potentially be useful allies, and that they tended to honour their word and stick with their allies until they were given a good reason to change, so Sirius threw some deals their way to make it worthwhile for them to pursue an alliance with them (the biggest carrot being a stake in handling the businesses they took off the Abbotts, because that would strengthen the House of Higgs' business interests), and Harry included Terence in their plans to survive the first task while putting on a good enough show to throw off the ones who were behind this. Terence understood that even though Harry had already known about the dragons, coming out and telling him like he did had been accepted as a sign of good faith, and he breathed a sigh of relief that he'd made the right decision.

* * *

The simplest way to convince Terence and Viktor to go along with the plan was to introduce them to the dragons, so that's what Harry did (after getting an oath from them that they'd keep the secret to themselves). Proving that the dragons would work with them unless provoked and walking them through the act made it fairly simple to get them on-board, and when they asked how this had been organised Harry just said that they had found out about the plans for the Tournament over a year ago, and had been working on a plan to beat the bastards at their own game since then. He also pointed out that being a parseltongue gave him a big advantage when it came to sorting things out with the dragons, as did having a good idea of which dragons they'd be facing, because he was pretty certain that he'd be the one facing the Hungarian Horntail as she was supposed to be the most dangerous, so the other three should concentrate on memorising the moves that the other dragons would make. He did feel a little guilty that he didn't tell Terence and Viktor that the dragons' eggs weren't real, but rationalised that they'd be more careful if they believed that the risk was greater, and therefore less likely to do anything that might provoke the dragons into a more dangerous response.

They had fun winding up Jones, Abbott and Fudge, because Minerva had stopped Jones when he announced to Hogwarts' students that the quidditch cup was cancelled for the year and told him "No it bloody well isn't!" in front of the whole school. When Jones tried to insist that the quidditch stadium would be needed for two of the tournament tasks she told him that while the Ministry may be able to insist that the tournament be held at Hogwarts, they didn't have any right to interfere with school activities, so they'd just have to build facilities for the tournament somewhere else, and got Hagrid to specify an appropriate location for it. She rubbed salt in the wound by getting Madame Maxime, Professor Branimir and their students' enthusiastic support for a friendly inter-school quidditch contest which proved to be more fun for the players than either Viktor's professional games or the cut-throat school contests they were used to.

The fun continued when Jones and Abbott tried to demand access to school funds to get the facilities built in time for the first task and Minerva told them to shove it up their arses, saying that it was _their_ responsibility to provide the facilities for their tournament, _not_ Hogwarts. When Fudge said that the money would have to be taken from the Ministry funding for the school, an emergency session of the Wizengamot was quickly called and the vast majority of the Wizengamot told them that if they tried to touch one knut of Hogwarts' funding for this tournament, they'd all be out on their arses before they could cry "Mummy!" Of course, seeing who it was who coughed up the funds to get the stadium built also helped them map out who the players behind this were (aside from Fudge, who was obviously made to fork out his share for screwing up so publicly…. again).

Jones, Abbott and Fudge were also angry when Abbott and Bagman turned up with reporters, photographers and Garrick Ollivander for a 'Wand Weighing Ceremony' publicity event for the tournament and the Champions and Harry told them to piss off. Garrick knew who he should trust now, so when the competitors in the tournament refused to have their wands examined he played along. "Quite right! No witch or wizard can be forced to hand their wand over to anyone else unless they're at least suspected of having committed a crime! You gave me the impression that the competitors had agreed to my coming here to do this Mister Abbott, but it would apparent that you misled me!" He then turned to Harry and the others. "Duke Potter, Miss Delacour, Mister Krum, Mister Higgs, please forgive me, it was my understanding that this was being done with your knowledge and agreement. You have my apologies and I will bother you no further..."

Harry had to hide a smile. "Not at all Mister Ollivander, I'm sure my fellow competitors will join me in saying that we do not hold this against you, we understand that the blame lies with the organisers of this ridiculous tournament." Fleur and the others agreed and Harry went on. "But with regards to what you were saying about witches and wizards not being forced to hand over their wands, why are we made to do that to get into the Ministry of Magic then? "

He could see the mirth in Garrick's eyes as he pretended to be outraged. " _What?_ What are you talking about Duke Potter?"

"You have to hand your wand over at the security desk when you go into the Ministry of Magic and they do something to scan it, then they hold most people's wands until they leave. I don't know how it's determined who's allowed to keep their wand and who isn't, but the only ones I saw getting their wands back were wearing expensive looking robes..."

"What? That's an outrage! You can't just take someone's wand from them and then arbitrarily decide who gets them back. How long as this been going on?"

"I wouldn't know Mister Ollivander, don't forget that I only came into the Magical world a little over a year ago."

"Of course, I apologise Duke Potter, this disgraceful news put that from my mind for the moment..." He turned on Abbott. "You're a representative of the Ministry Mister Abbott! How long has the Ministry been doing this... interfering with something so personal and important to witches and wizards with no justification?"

Abbott was ropeable, because Potter had done it to him again, he set him up for ridicule with the press right there, taking notes and pictures. In his mind's eye, he could see the story that would be in tomorrow's Prophet and it wouldn't be the publicity piece for the tournament it was supposed to be, it would all be about the Ministry interfering with witches and wizards' most important possession for no good reason, and arbitrarily taking wands away from some while returning them to others... Shit! He could see a couple of the damned reporters running out the door, they must be trying to get to the Ministry to demand to know what the rules were before the ones on the security desk could be told to keep their mouths shut, he had to get word back to the Ministry before it was too late... "I don't know Mister Ollivander, as far as I know that's always been the policy for visitors to the Ministry. I will investigate the matter when I return but if you will excuse me, I must make an urgent Floo call..."

Harry could see what he was trying to do, so he kept him there a little longer, taking the opportunity to twist the knife a little more. "The House of Potter would also like this information Mister Abbott. I realise that you do not make decisions for the Ministry, but this appears to be a clear abuse of authority and discrimination as well. If the Ministry has a justifiable reason for demanding to see people's wands and taking them, it should apply to everyone, not just the people who don't look important. The Muggle world has laws to ensure that everyone is treated equally and they should be applied here too. So as I said, the House of Potter formally requests a copy of the same information that our allies in the House of Ollivander have requested, and I thank you in anticipation of your prompt response to the matter."

He smiled inside at the tightening of Abbott's expression which showed that he'd gotten the message, that the House of Ollivander was an ally of the House of Potter, so Garrick was protected by the oath he'd had to make to Harry on Halloween. Abbott just nodded tightly and turned and stormed off, because it was too late to head off those reporters now so the best bet would be to head straight back and tell Cornelius so that they could work out what to tell Potter and the press.

Half of the reporters thanked Harry before they rushed off to write up the story that had come out of this altercation, because the Ministry abusing people's rights and corruption made for a much bigger story than the expected puff piece on their stupid tournament.

* * *

When the day of the first task came, it wasn't too difficult to create a situation to get everyone but the competitors thrown out of the Champions' tent so Harry could walk Viktor and Terence through the moves that their dragons were expecting. They both got a little singed when they zigged when they should have zagged, but they got the golden eggs without being serious injured or upsetting their dragons too much, and the dragons went back to look after their real eggs happily. Veela were more fireproof than normal humans, so as per the plan Fleur put on more of a show and tantalised the audience by casting off her burning robes just as she left the arena with her egg. Due to the fact that dragons have far better hearing than most people realise, Harry was able to call the moves to Snazak without anyone else hearing as he dodged and dove through his act, and he dropped his burning robes as he ran out of the arena with his egg like Fleur had, but what he was wearing underneath wasn't as interesting as what she had been. He'd been getting a running commentary on the performances and scores from Hermione as the task progressed, so he wasn't surprised to see that the scores were fairly close for the other three. Of course, his score was lower, because only Auntie Minnie and Madame Maxime gave him a fair score for the task, but the point was to survive and none of them, the dragons or their eggs were really harmed, so it was a win in his book.

After the first task, Harry had a quiet word with Viktor and Terence about the second task, telling Viktor that his date for the Yule Ball would most likely end up on the bottom of Black Lake as his hostage for the second task, so he should think long and hard about who he took to the ball. Viktor was a little worried about that, because he was actually betrothed to a girl back home, but their families had agreed that it would be best to keep the betrothal a secret to protect Sofia from the news hounds and people who would try to use her to influence him, and his manager kept the secret because it was better for his image if he was perceived to be available to his female fans. Terence was even more worried, because his betrothal was well known, so logic said that Gemma would be his hostage. They were still covered by the oaths that they gave before the first task, but Harry added Gemma to the oath so that she could prepare for what was in front of her, and helped Viktor word a warning to Sofia's family to be careful as they got closer to the second task.

Harry was also worried about his girls, because while the most logical choice for his hostage was Hermione, he didn't know whether Jones and the others would pick one of the others to throw him off, because the others looked (and were) more vulnerable. He had also managed to see what the plans for Fleur, Gabi and the rest of them down there were in Rosier's head, which just made him want to kill Rosier.

Some things were better this time than last time though, because Harry had had over a year to practice the functional metamorphmagus transformation into a merman and swimming and fighting in that form. Fleur and Gabi had confirmed that gillyweed worked for them like it did for humans, and had been practising swimming in that form since the beginning of September (because as Veela, swimming wasn't something they were that used to), and Hermione and the other girls had been practising for over a year too, as well as being accomplished with the bubblehead charm. Harry was also far more powerful and had a much bigger arsenal of spells that he could cast both non-verbally and wandlessly than he had in the other timeline, _and_ they had the Lady.

By the time the second task came around, Sirius had been testing the Lady's underwater capabilities for nearly a year. He'd confirmed that she could travel and stay underwater for days without trouble and the disillusionment charms, wards and the like seemed to work just as well underwater, as did the schlag-ruthes (except perhaps for the cannonballs etc). This gave them the foundation for their plans for the second task…. the crew would bring the Lady into the lake a day or so prior to the second task and use the wards to keep her hidden from detection. They'd move in on the Mers' village on the morning of the task and try and capture the ones that Rosier was planning to use to make the Mers kill everyone, and they would try to deal with any Mer aggression against the competitors and hostages as well.

They all had to laugh when Viktor told them what he'd decided to do about his date for the Yule Ball because while it was rather wrong, it was _so_ fitting…. he charmed the pants off Hannah Abbott (well not _literally_ , because she was only thirteen and he was faithful to Sofia, and for that matter he was worried enough about what Harry had said about her that he'd explained all this to Sofia and their families in case anything came out in the news back home) and was seen to be spending a fair proportion of his free time with her right up until the second task, so Hannah could be the _only_ logical choice for his 'what you'll sorely miss'. This meant that if anyone else were selected for his hostage, Mister Abbott would have quite a bit of explaining to do, and he would hopefully do something to make the hostages safer if his own daughter was down there.

Professor Branimir had tried to convince Viktor that someone older and more attractive (and who had a better reputation) would be a better choice for his date to the Yule Ball as Durmstrang's Champion but Viktor shut him down by asking why the daughter of the esteemed Mister Abbot would be unsuitable as his date, and what was this reputation he was alluding to? The Professor gave up at that, because he hadn't been told _why_ he was being instructed to get Viktor to change his date, he'd just been sent a message ordering him to do it. He got the point when he was told closer to the second task that Viktor's date from the Yule Ball would be the hostage waiting for him at the bottom of Black Lake, but he pointed out that he should have been told that at the start and it was too late to do anything then.

Harry didn't share Rosier's plans with Viktor or Terence, he didn't see any point in worrying them because they were already going to be doing everything they could to protect _all_ of the competitors and hostages. He'd only told Viktor about what the task was in an attempt to prevent a vulnerable girl being put at risk by the tournament, and that had actually worked out quite well thanks to Viktor's sense of humour.

 **A/N: For Australian readers…. yes, I couldn't resist when I had to come up with a given name for Hannah's father. ;^)**


	15. More Games

**There's been an addition to Damned Tournament, nothing too significant, I just realised that left out the Wand Weighing Ceremony, so I had them refusing and Harry turning it into an abuse of rights and corruption story with Ollivander's help because of the fact that the Ministry arbitrarily demands that people hand their wands over at the security desk in the Atrium to be scanned and maybe kept at their discretion, when there's no justification or reason given.**

 **I'm probably wasting my time trying to clarify this up front, but I will anyway. While Harry and Hermione's** ** _official_** **ages are twelve and thirteen at this point in this world, they have lived at least nineteen and twenty years in the most adverse conditions and magic has made their bodies around fifteen to sixteen, so to all intents and purposes they are mentally, physically and emotionally mid to late teens, adults in the old world. Fleur is a sixteen year old Veela who has gone through the change so she is the same. Luna is** ** _officially_** **still eleven, but the amount of time she has effectively spent in the future, experiencing the events of the possible futures has given her the mental and emotional maturity of a world weary young woman in her late teens and magic has accelerated her development so that she was physically mid-teens, and while Gabrielle is also eleven officially, as a Veela she is only half human so human rules don't apply to her and the change, Veela bonding and other developments have made her effectively mid-teens mentally, physically and emotionally. Daphne and Astoria have neither the experience of the future nor the Veelas' half-human nature to accelerate their development, so while magic has made them thirteen to fifteen** ** _physically_** **, they don't have the mental or emotional development to be able to handle the consummation of their marriages, and they and Harry are quite aware of this.**

 **Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will probably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

They'd found out some interesting things when Miroslav came back to judge the first task….. the fact that he wasn't happy at first to see Bulgaria's Pride of the Nation, the youngest professional seeker ever having fun as he played in the informal inter-school quidditch competition wasn't too much of a surprise as the Bulgarian government was hanging their hopes on the brooding young quidditch star's image to make their country look better, but it didn't take too much to get him to step back and look at it from a different angle. Once they'd planted the seed of the idea and nudged him in the right direction, he began to see how contrasting the happy, friendly schoolboy Viktor was here with the brooding, intense professional added a depth to Viktor's image that could only improve it. Being a politician, it was of course reframed as _his_ idea as soon as he was on board with it, but they were prepared to take that along with the benefits for Viktor and others.

The biggest news was the fact that Karkaroff had been tried and executed when he returned to Bulgaria, so Professor Branimir was now Durmstrang's Headmaster. What they hadn't realised, because they had enough to worry about in Magical Britain, was that after Albus Dumbledore was replaced as Magical Britain's representative to the ICW by the Wizengamot's nomination, a lot more information was shared about the Death Eaters and how they were now being dealt with in Britain, and most other European countries in the ICW adopted Magical Britain's automatic try and punish rule for Death Eaters and their ilk. The thing was, it hadn't been generally known that Karkaroff was a Death Eater in Bulgaria until Hogwarts' wards reacted to his dark mark and he hurriedly got out of Britain before he could be arrested, tried and punished for his crimes when he was supporting Riddle, but Bulgaria's Aurors were waiting for him when he returned because Popov had reported the reason he had been kept out of Hogwarts.

They _had_ known that Grindelwald was quietly tried and executed for his crimes after Harry outed the fact that Dumbledore had been secretly keeping his ex-lover alive in Nurmengard after he attacked him from behind and captured him, rather than killing him to end the threat as he'd implied to the rest of the world. Apparently Nurmengard was now being used to house dangerous criminals who escaped the death penalty, rather than being kept just as a secret hidey hole for Grindelwald. While no-one was overly happy about that, they had to concede that it was better to have those types locked away, and Nurmengard didn't approach the foulness of Azkaban with its dementors.

* * *

Of course, as soon as the rest of the students were told about the ball, they were all besieged with requests to be others' dates to it. The girls had to get quite aggressive with some of their would be paramours, as they wouldn't accept that the fact that they were betrothed was a good enough reason to refuse their invitations…. Harry, Sirius, Remus, Ulfr and Snorri had to step in more than a few times to ward off the trouble that would have come from the enraged girls killing or seriously damaging the arseholes who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

Who was to go with whom was eventually resolved by Fleur and Hermione going with Harry, Susan and Ginny with Neville, Angelina and Luna with Fred, Katie and Daphne with George and Alicia and Astoria with Lee….. Jean-Pierre was attending as France's Head of International Cooperation and one of the signatories of the tournament contracts, and no-one would dare object to Apolline and Gabrielle accompanying him. The rest of the family were going as staff and Ulfr, Snorri, Efa and Emyr went as part of the goblin guard (under glamours as 'ordinary' goblin guards of course).

While they were all training to make it through the second task, there was one major point of the preparations that they were putting off until after the Christmas break, the dragonhide armour that they would be wearing as or under their robes. Fleur and Gabi's grandmother Agathe was the current Veela Matriarch, because her Veela bonding was one that only happened once every two or three centuries at most, so this had only happened about a dozen times since Veela first came about from the Ancient Greek Avian Sirens mating with powerful wizards (the origin of the eternal feud between Veela and Mers)…. This bonding created what they called a Veela Matriarch, one who had been given access to the collective energy and knowledge of the Veela race, similar to how the Head of a House gains the House's Magic and Knowledge but on a much larger scale. There was a curse attached to these bondings though, the odds were astronomical against _all_ the myriad required conditions being met, but the Veela's mates died when they were, not one of the Matriarchs' mates had survived to date, and usually their attendants at the bonding died as well.

Agathe had made a request of Harry and the girls when the nature of the second task was made known, that they allow Fleur to seal her Veela bond with Harry before she had to go beneath Black Lake to reduce the disadvantage that she would be under down there. They all knew that the Veelas' fire and air powers largely deserted them under water, but the Veela bond usually doubled a Veela's powers, if not more, so that should help her get through the task without harm. Agathe had pointed out that the bond could sometimes result in as many physical changes as the change at the end of a Veela's child cycle itself did, and to a lesser this applied to their bond mates as well, so they were waiting until after the Yule Ball to perform the bonding, and would have Fleur and the others' armour made up afterwards.

The Veela were actually excited to see what might happen at Fleur's bonding, because while they had records of familiar bonds and twin and other sibling bonds existing and being enhanced by the Veela bonding, they'd never heard of a Veela's mate being already bonded to six exceptional partners and eight extraordinary familiars, especially with the depth of the bond between Harry and Hermione, and to a lesser degree Luna, so they were delving into virgin territory here. The fact that Harry was the first man in known history to have resisted a Matriarch's allure being turned on them full bore was also a matter of extreme interest to the Veela, Agathe was shocked that he had resisted her allure and had thought to herself that that, combined with his incredible magical power and reserves, would normally have made him a prime candidate to be a Matriarch's mate, except for the fact that Veela legend said that there could only ever be one Matriarch so there wouldn't be another one created until she passed on.

* * *

On the night of the ball, Abbott and the other Ministry officials of course tried to stop Harry and the others making their entrances with two girls each, but Harry was angry enough that the magic leaking from him was a palpable threat so most of them scuttled off. The Umbitch of course had far more mouth than sense and stridently _demanded_ that Remus (she obviously refused to accept St Mungo's certification that he had no trace of Lycanthropy in him), the goblins and Apolline and Gabrielle be ejected as creatures who weren't fit to associate with proper witches and wizards. She suddenly disappeared mid rant when Harry asked Hogwarts to get rid of the vile creature and Fudge demanded that she be returned at once. Fudge didn't see the humour when Harry said quite honestly that he had no idea where she'd disappeared to and then turned to ask Minerva. "Do you know of anything in Hogwarts' wards that might eject unpleasant toad creatures, or perhaps those who are behaving totally unacceptably from Hogwarts Headmistress McGonagall? Those are the only things that I can think of that might explain Miss Umbitch being removed like that?"

Minerva was having a hard time fighting her laughter at the question and Fudge's expression as she shook her head musingly. "I know of nothing of that nature Duke Potter, but then as we've discovered, my predecessors have interfered with Hogwarts' wards so much, especially over the last fifty years, that we really have no idea what may be in there. I'm sure that Delores is fine though, Hogwarts would have only sent her somewhere appropriate….. Oh dear.…. Cornelius, perhaps you should check with the Warden at Azkaban? If Hogwarts believed that her actions here were criminal she may have actually sent her there?"

Fudge ranted and blustered about the insinuation that his Senior Undersecretary would have done anything wrong or criminal, or that a _castle_ could make decisions and send upstanding citizens to Azkaban, as that could only be done by a proper Wizengamot trial.

Harry fixed him with a chilling look at that. "Your statement is patently incorrect Minister, considering that my own Godfather, Duke Black, was sent to Azkaban for a decade by the Minister, Chief Warlock and Director of the DMLE of the time without a trial, or even any investigation into his alleged crimes, _which he was completely innocent of!_ _S_ o don't try to peddle shite like that to us Minister! I know for a fact that your _U_ _nder_ secretary is guilty of far worse crimes than Duke Black _ever_ was, and furthermore, I would trust the integrity of Hogwarts over a court infested with corrupt individuals to impose justice any day!"

While Fudge went white and spluttered before scuttling off to floo Azkaban to see whether his Senior Undersecretary was in fact there. Harry asked Merlin over their link where the Toad _had_ gone to and Merlin chuckled. "She _is_ at Azkaban now My Lord…. Lady Hogwarts had initially dropped her into Black Lake, but she agreed with you that Headmistress McGonagall's suggestion of Azkaban was quite apropos so she retrieved her and sent her to Azkaban. The Toad was half frozen and coughing up water but alive when she arrived there.

Harry had to laugh at that, because unless they'd tested the water, which Wizards would never think to do, it would most probably be put down as taking a few tries to get the Toad to Azkaban. The Ministry could never pin it on any of them because no-one would believe that any of them could send someone straight from the Great Hall of Hogwarts to Azkaban, and if he tried to make Auntie Ami charge _Hogwarts_ with anything, Auntie Ami would laugh him out of her office.

It just got better when Amelia decided that the supposed perception of crimes by the sentient castle was cause to begin an investigation into _Spinster_ Umbridge (she could never have enticed anyone to marry something like _her_ ). With Harry and Hermione telling her what to look for, they'd soon found quite enough evidence against the Toad to get her sentenced to Azkaban for twenty years. The illegal blood quills and the proof she'd been keeping to blackmail those she'd arranged for nefarious acts to be committed for ensured that no-one could save her or those who'd carried out her dirty work (like John Dawlish, who went through the Veil of Death for the murders he'd committed on her orders). Fudge only escaped punishment himself because she'd kept his name out of the records, but some of the others weren't so lucky because after they had been tried and sentenced by the Wizengamot they used the Wizards Council Laws to degrade or destroy over half a dozen houses on the basis of that evidence. The people behind Fudge were starting to seriously question the value of keeping him on as Minister, because they quite rightly laid the blame for this at his feet.

A group of tables had been reserved near the High Table for the rest of the family, so once the dinner and obligatory Champions' dance was done with, Harry, Hermione, Fleur, Jean-Pierre, Apolline and Gabrielle relocated to the family tables. Harry had at least one dance with every lady at their tables, he even got in dances with his 'Aunts' but most of them spent much of the night warding off would be interlopers of both sexes.

* * *

After the ball, the immediate family and their familiars all went straight to Chateau Delacour because it had been agreed that the sooner Fleur's Veela bonding ritual was done, the longer she'd have to get used to the changes, and with so many unknowns Agathe wanted them all there in case there were any complications. They were grateful for this when they proceeded with the bonding, because the unthinkable happened, Fleur and Harry had a Matriarch Bonding, and that was only the first of the supposedly impossible occurrences.

Some of the key requirements of a Veela Matriarch Bonding were that a powerful Veela had a much deeper than normal bonding with an extremely powerful wizard, and that their child was conceived at the moment that the bond was consummated in a mutual climax (the odds against all these and the other conditions being met together at the precise moment of the consummation were of course astronomical), and then there was the fact that Veela lore stated that no more than one Veela Matriarch could exist at any one time, so Agathe had never considered the possibility that her own granddaughter could have a Matriarch Bonding not forty years after her own bonding. Agathe had told Apolline what had happened to her father (also Henri, oddly enough), the Veela attending her bonding and the cottage where the bonding was performed, so when all of their bond mates and familiars appeared to have simultaneous seizures and collapsed at the same moment a massive blast of Veela energy ripped through the Chateau, it was obvious to her what had happened. She screamed and as soon as she'd confirmed that Gabrielle and the other bond mates were alive, she raced for the bedchamber where her eldest was sealing her Veela bond with her incredible bond mate, attended by her grandmother.

When she burst into the room, Agathe was already stirring, apparently unharmed even though she'd almost been blasted right through the wall by the energy released. Apolline rushed to the bed, almost fainting from relief when she found her daughter still alive, but then Harry groaned and she almost fainted from _shock_ , because everything that she'd ever heard said that this was impossible!

As soon as she'd recovered enough to think straight, Agathe pushed Apolline out of the way and scanned Fleur and Harry, several times because she couldn't believe what she was seeing. The bedchamber became quite crowded as she was doing this, because all of the couple's other bond-mates and familiars suddenly appeared in the room silently. Once Agathe had confirmed that Harry and Fleur were alright, Hermione managed to calm herself enough to assert her authority over the rest of them and make them settle down, and that was another shock for Agathe and Apolline, because her silent command over their links instantly quieted them all down and the Devil Birds and Mngwas changed back into their owl and cat forms. Agathe looked at her musingly, because she recognised a true matriarch's authority being exercised over the family by this young woman, but this made things a lot easier so she had Hermione command them to submit to being scanned.

The results of the others scans were almost as shocking as Fleur and Harry's, and after discussing it with Harry and his brilliant witches, they all agreed that this must have been how Harry survived the Matriarch bonding. All of them, Veela, wizard, witches and familiars alike, were now showing large amounts of Veela energy, and the physical development acceleration that came with absorbing so much energy, as well as having much stronger links and other shared attributes. The bond-mates were also displaying Veela attributes and had absorbed quite a bit of the Veela knowledge base. There was little doubt that the strength of Harry's links with his bond-mates and familiars (especially Hermione and Luna) had channelled the excess energy into all of them, and this was what had prevented him being burnt out by the massive outburst of energy that came from the bonding, and the seven of them and their eight familiars absorbing most of the energy had also prevented Chateau Delacour being levelled by the energy blast and everyone inside the building killed, as had happened at Agathe and the previous Matriarchs' bondings.

They could _all_ (bond-mates _and_ familiars) now do something akin to the phoenixes' flame travel, but without the flames, they could instantly and silently appear beside any bond-mate or familiar they were linked to, or any location that they could identify, they had also seemed to have acquired the phoenixes' healing powers and were largely resistant to physical or magical attacks. Their familiars were all more intelligent and powerful now with significant magical cores, and the Devil Birds could fly much faster in their owl forms and effectively turned into Veela in their Devil Bird forms. It was as if magic had evaluated every part of their bond in the instant of the bonding and shared the most useful traits of each part with the rest, as the bond-mates now all had both Devil Bird and Mngwa animagus forms which shared _all_ of their familiars' new capabilities _and_ they all had Harry and Dora's metamorphmagus ability, Harry's parseltongue ability as well, though it spared the others the curse of Luna's seer's ability. Fawkes had a spontaneous rebirth once she'd confirmed that Harry and the others were alright, but she rose from the ashes as a white phoenix and told them that she had chosen a new name for herself, Mara, as she had put aside the name associated with her existence as Albus Dumbledore's slave. This bonding had broken _all_ of the known rules of magic and would have to go down in history as the most extraordinary bonding of all time, though only the leaders of the Veela Nation would know of it.

With the other elements under control, Agathe quickly confirmed that Fleur was indeed pregnant, and taught her how to use the Veela ability to put her pregnancy safely in stasis until she was ready for it to proceed, for years if necessary. Hermione and the other girls paid close attention to this, hoping that this was one of the Veela talents that they'd acquired, as all women would like to have the ability to do this. Once the initial panic was past, Agathe had examined Gabrielle more closely and confirmed that as she had suspected, the energy released through Fleur's bonding had initiated the change in her a few years early, so that within a week she'd have the physical size and maturity of a young woman in her mid-teens, and the mental, emotional and magical capacity and maturity to go with it. She tried to explain this to Harry and the others.

"You understand how the human growth cycles work… from birth to seven is the infant cycle where they develop to the point where they can begin effectively training their minds, bodies and magic, from eight to fourteen is the child cycle where they develop their capabilities to the point where they're usable, from fifteen to twenty one is the juvenile cycle where they're learning to develop their capabilities and life path and from twenty two they move into the adult cycle where they practice and study to improve these capabilities while operating in the world?" The others nodded.

"Then I presume that you also know that for most of the Magical world, children's basic magical and cultural training begins around five or six to help prepare them to control and use their magic when it starts showing itself on a regular basis, and how to operate in both the Magical and Mundane cultures that they live in, and that even Magical Britain did this up until the middle of the Nineteenth Century when the practice petered out for some reason…?" They nodded again, but Hermione spoke up at that.

"We believe that that may have been a result of the decline of magical ability in the more bigoted Pureblood families who held much of the power due to excessive inbreeding Mémé _._ _T_ heir children were taking longer for their magic to present so there was little point in starting to train them to control it until it awoke, and they taught them what they believed was important about magical culture at home." It was Agathe's turn to nod musingly, but she went on.

"One thing that you should understand about Veela is that in the Child Cycle especially, their human side develops slower than most full humans until the end of the cycle, where they will have a sudden change and pass the development of the human girls who had up until then been developing faster than them in the space of a week or so. This is what is now happening to our Gabrielle because of being included in Fleur's bonding…. At this moment she is still a child, but before the week is out she will be a full grown woman in every sense of the word….. Henri, for this reason, and because of the trials we know that she will have to face with you, Fleur, and Hermione in two months I request, non, I beg you to allow Gabrielle to have her Veela Bonding with you before you all go back to school, so that she will have the power to face what we know she will have to face down there…. I must warn you that this bonding may well be another Matriarch Bonding, you and my petite fille Fleur have already disproved the Veela lore which insisted that it was impossible for more than one Veela Matriarch to exist at any one time, and as our Gabrielle shares the power that came from me and my Henri through her mère and her père's line through him, while you are even more powerful now than you were before you bonded with Fleur, I believe it probable that she will become a Matriarch as well. While this frightens me, the fact that she and Fleur will have the power of the Matriarchs and all of you to keep them safe makes me thank the gods…. So…. Will you grant me the boon of doing this to keep my Gabrielle safe Henri?"

Harry consulted with Gabrielle, Hermione and the others and nodded. "Oui Mémé, we know enough of the lore of the Veela now to understand and accept that this will not harm Gabrielle and that it is the best way to help her, so we will do this when she is ready."

Agathe was almost in tears when she whispered "Merci", but she stopped and looked into Luna's eyes before turning back to Harry. "Your little Lune wishes this as well, and is physically and emotionally ready for it Henri. You still see the girl who needs to be protected because she witnessed her mère's death and a part of her will remain that way, but just as you and Hermione are older on the inside, so is she from all the things she has seen and experienced through the curse of being a seer. I ask you to consider granting her this boon that she so richly deserves…."

Harry looked at Luna and she opened her thoughts and memories to him, so that he could see that what Agathe said was correct, it also made him realise that she was more physically developed at this point than Hermione had been when they sealed their bond, and that sharing their bed had been more physical comfort and the sense that the three of them were meant to be together than protecting her from nightmares about her mother's death for some time now. He could feel Hermione and the other girls laughing at him, because they had all known and accepted this for some time, he was the only one who hadn't picked up on it. He had the sense from Daphne and Astoria that they were happy with this, and that they accepted in themselves that they weren't old enough to take this step yet, even though the others were…. Which their parents would no doubt be quite happy to hear.

Once Xeno agreed to Luna's request, she and Harry performed the same formal bonding ritual as Harry and Hermione had, and Luna's links to Harry and the others were taken to a new level, while she gained a greater share of the magic and knowledge from becoming the consort of the Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell and Most Ancient Druid House of Emrys, as well as the gains accruing from the magical coming of age for four magically powerful Most Ancient Houses.

Agathe and Apolline announced that Gabrielle was ready by the end of the week and she and Harry performed her formal Veela bonding ritual. None of them were surprised that Agathe was correct and Gabrielle also became a Matriarch, but the enhancements to their links that came out of Fleur's bonding meant that the others received a much bigger boost from the Veela energy released than they had with Fleur's bonding. Daphne and Astoria were the weakest magically of the family, and they were both more powerful than any five or six ordinary witches or wizards now, after being recipients of a share of the energy released in two Veela Matriarch bondings, being accepted as heiresses to their family's two magically powerful houses and being accepted as the betrothed of the Head and Heir of two even more magically powerful houses, with the added boost of blood adoptions into those houses. With everything that Harry had received, he was easily ten times as powerful as they were, while Hermione, Luna, Fleur and Gabrielle were four to six times as powerful and they could all draw power from their familiars, each of whom could store as much magical energy as Daphne or Astoria, so all in all, their little family had the magical power of a small army between them.

With this much power and the Black Lady at their disposal, they were more comfortable about being able to deal with whatever they may find at the bottom of Black Lake, but the girls' married status that came with the bonding rituals also gave them an advantage for when they had to deal with their opponents in the courts, as Harry was now Duke Potter-Peverell, Earl Gryffindor-Slytherin-Flamel-Black and Head, Heir or Consort of several more of the oldest and most powerful houses in Magical Britain and France. Hermione was Duchess Potter, Countess Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff-Gryffindor-Slytherin and Head, Heiress or Consort of several more of the oldest and most powerful houses, Luna was Duchess Peverell and again, Head, Heiress or Consort of a number of other old and powerful houses, Fleur was Baroness Delacour-Flamel, Heiress to the French Noblesse Ancienne House of Delacour and Consort of the Heir to the French Noblesse Ancienne House of Flamel, and Gabrielle was Countess Flamel and Baroness Dubois, Consort of the Head of the British Noble and Ancient House of Flamel and Heiress to the French Noblesse Ancienne House of Dubois. Between them, they represented many of the most powerful houses of Magical Britain and France, and aside from Harry, the organisers of the tournament had absolutely no agreement or authority to make them be a part of anything so dangerous, so everyone involved in what was thrown at them down there _would_ be made to pay. Even in France, with the houses that Harry controlled or represented through the Flamels and his own bloodlines, Jean-Pierre's alliance had the power to wreak havoc on any houses which had been involved in Harry's participation in the tournament and any and all attempts to kill off Harry, Fleur and Gabrielle because Magical France had similar laws to Magical Britain when it came to protecting key members of the old and powerful Noblesse Ancienne Houses.

* * *

By the time they went back to school, the changes in each of them had run their course, Fleur, Harry, Hermione, Daphne and Astoria looked a year or two older than they had before the break, while Luna and Gabrielle looked at least three or four years older. While the changes protected those who were going to be at the bottom, they still had dragonhide robes and/or breeches and tunics made up to fit their new dimensions to give them another layer of protection. They decided to use metamorph transformations which mimicked the effects of the gillyweed rather than the gillyweed itself as they could change more quickly and at will, and the time limits of the gillyweed were eliminated, so they were all practising that. Harry and Fleur were planning to enter the lake in this form to cover up their ability, then transform their lower halves into Mer tails to allow them to be faster underwater.

Viktor, Terence and Gemma had all been training since the first task to learn how to swim better underwater in the dragonhide armour using gillyweed (with two years less magical education, Viktor wasn't up to even the half transformation he'd used in the other timeline), so they would be as safe as they could be as well. The only one who wouldn't have this protection would be Hannah Abbott, she would have to rely on her father's protection. They expected that Jones and the Ministry officials would lodge a protest about the fact that the competitors were all apparently using gillyweed and dragonhide armour, but there was nothing in the rules that prevented competitors from helping each other, and if they tried to make up something on the spot it would be easy to point out that this was the epitome of the spirit of international cooperation that the tournament was supposed to be about, they'd shared what they agreed to be the best method so that no-one was disadvantaged, therefore they could _not_ be accused of cheating.

* * *

The six weeks from when they returned to the second task were busy, as their studies and training took up much of their time, but they were still working with the rest of the family on revoking or revising many of the unjust laws in the Wizengamot. With the Fudge faction's 'anti-creature' attack toad in Azkaban, they quickly struck out against the anti-werewolf, anti-goblin and anti-muggle laws that she'd been the champion for before the Ministry could come up with someone else to take her place. Proof supplied by St Mungo's about how many people who had been on the werewolf registry had now been certified as clear of lycanthropy a year and a half after the new and improved version of 'Wolfsbane' came into use (They'd marketed Salazar's cure for Lycanthropy as a new and improved version of Wolfsbane because it wasn't hard to argue that Wolfsbane already reduced many of the symptoms, and the improved version went further to eradicate the disease. Once they showed proof of its effectiveness, they had most countries in the ICW and the rest of the Magical world clamouring to buy this new Wolfsbane and their apothecaries made a fortune from the sales, but more importantly werewolf numbers were rapidly dropping around the world. Those countries who wouldn't change their laws to recognise that people had been cured of the affliction lost valuable citizens to the countries that did, and many of the people being hired by the family were ex-werewolves. Amelia was hiring as many of them as she could to be Aurors as well because they kept the werewolves' enhanced speed, strength, recuperation powers and senses after they were cured.) was quite enough to have the abominations of laws that had been enacted to ensure that sufferers couldn't help themselves revoked, and the Werewolf Registry and everything else associated with classifying them as creatures wiped out. In their place, far harsher laws were enacted to deal with the very small minority of werewolves who resisted being cured of the affliction and who deliberately attacked and infected others, giving the DMLE a free hand to eliminate them with minimal risk to others... Remus had cried with joy the day that Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf who attacked and turned him and hundreds of other children was tracked down and killed, because Greyback was the monster who'd haunted his nightmares since he was a child.

Another thing they quickly pushed through with assistance from the ICW was to get Arthur's liaison office functions expanded into a new Domestic Liaisons Department which was now in charge of _all_ interactions between Magical Britain, the British Goblin and Centaur Nations and Non-Magical Britain. Fudge, the people behind him and the Ministry insiders who had lost people and power to Arthur's Domestic Liaisons Department were up in arms about this, but as with the werewolves, they couldn't argue about the unprecedented achievements that Arthur had made in this field. The accolades coming from the ICW showed that the Magical world was watching, so they couldn't do anything when the Wizengamot voted for the new department to be formed with Arthur as its head. Once the goblins, centaurs and Muggles all came under Arthur's purview, they quickly moved to have most of the anti-creature and anti-muggle laws revoked or revised. The other side found it highly suspicious that these were all ready to be presented at the next Wizengamot session after his appointment, and how quickly they were pushed through, but once again there was little they could do about it.

* * *

Fudge was sweating now, because even he could see what was going on. So far he had managed to hang onto the position of Minister for Magic, but it was Delores who had been doing much of the work to handle things to keep him there and maintain his control…. He did as he was told when she was sent to Azkaban, replacing her with Amos Diggory, but Diggory didn't tell him what to do or make the problems go away, so Cornelius was panicking. Most of the others he'd relied on were lost to him as well now, Dawlish and his people were in Azkaban if they escaped the Veil, the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes and Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures had both been disbanded because all of the important offices of both departments had been moved to either Magical Law Enforcement or Domestic Liaisons and all that was left of either was the Pest Advisory Board. Both Algernon and Monty were now talking about selling up and leaving Magical Britain while they could because they'd already lost their positions as the Heads of important Ministry departments where they thought they couldn't be touched, so they were afraid of what these people in the Wizards Council Alliance would do next, and he was beginning to think that they had the right of it.

Even the Department of Magical Transportation had lost its most important office, as the Floo Network Authority had been absorbed into Magical Law Enforcement because Bones had presented what was accepted as irrefutable evidence of many incidents over the last few decades where the Floo network had either been used to give unauthorised access to people's homes and businesses for nefarious purposes, or to prevent people calling for help or escaping when they were being attacked by Death Eaters and others. Somehow the order to have the Floo Network Authority moved into Magical Law Enforcement got passed by the Wizengamot then and there, so Bones and Weasley now controlled just about all of the most important functions of the Ministry between them. They'd even gotten Wizengamot to rule that no-one in their departments was to accept any orders from anyone but their own department heads, not even _him,_ and that they could ignore the standard Ministry hiring, firing and promotion processes in their departments because they had specific needs that weren't met by the standard processes.

This was all a disaster! He had no real control over his own Ministry any more, he'd lost nearly all the people he relied to get things done, _and_ the ability to get the things he wanted buried covered up as well. He was sure that Dumbledore was to blame for this, because it had all started when that Potter boy came out of wherever Dumbledore had hidden him and Black was freed. Nothing had been said that day, but he had seen from the way that Bones and Black were looking at him that they knew about his part in covering up the truth about Black's capture under Minister Bagnold, Director Crouch and Dumbledore's orders. Potter was the one who terrified him though, how had he, a mere child, suddenly appeared with all the power of the Most Ancient House Laws at his disposal? What the Wizengamot had done to the ones tried that day was unprecedented, but then Potter had called on the old magic and stripped them of everything! _Including_ their magic!

He had had a taste of that himself when Potter took a third of everything he owned and forced him to formally accept the children he'd fathered into his family (those they knew about, how many more were out there to come out of the woodwork?). The girl wasn't too bad, she had a brain and knew how to use it so she could carry on the Fudge line, but to be forced to accept that useless little Squib into his family and give him his name, it was an outrage! One thing was for sure, if they _did_ decide to run like his friends were doing, there was no way they were taking the Squib.

But the writing was on the wall now, he'd done what he was told last year to make sure this Triwizard Tournament went ahead as planned, so they could get rid of Potter to weaken his group and make it easier to wrest control of Magical Britain back from them. It had sounded like the answer to their problems then, but now….. in the two months since Delores decided to open her mouth at the Yule Ball he'd lost her and most of the people he depended on _and_ his remaining supporters, Bones and Weasley had somehow wrested control of nearly all of important parts of the Ministry from him and his key people had been fired, or demoted and quit. They had even used the Wizengamot's rulings to force everyone in their departments to take a magical oath to follow their orders, and their orders only, and were hiring Half-Bloods, Muggleborn and supposedly ex-werewolves instead of proper Purebloods to replace the ones they fired for refusing to take the oath or failing to do the job properly! Even if they _did_ manage to kill off Potter, he couldn't see any way to beat this Wizards Council Alliance now, and all those Purebloods who had been kicked out of the Ministry (for _life_ as they'd added some clause to say that they could never work for or with the Ministry ever again) were unfairly blaming _him_ for what had happened, it wasn't his fault!

* * *

The recent changes in the Ministry had actually worked out well for the ones pulling the strings on this coming up to the second task of the tournament, because most of the Purebloods who had controlled liaisons with the Mers had been fired, so they were all too willing to help set up what was to happen to the competitors and their hostages, except perhaps Tony Abbott's daughter.

On the morning of the second task, unknown house elves suddenly appeared to grab Hermione and disappear again about an hour before the task was supposed to start, the thing same happened to Gemma (Terence's betrothed), and Gabrielle at Beauxbatons. They were all wearing their dragonhide armour under their robes and had their real wands hidden, so Harry and the others weren't too worried, but they were expected to react so as soon as their people on the disillusioned Black Lady reported that the hostages had arrived in the village and were apparently in good health, the doors of the Great Hall crashed open and Harry charged in, demanding to know where Hermione was because he couldn't find her. He shouted at Jones, Bagman and Abbott that they had no right to take her and demanded that they start the task _now_!

As expected, Abbott was confident that he had the upper hand so he sneered at him. "No matter how important you think you are _Lord_ Potter, the arranged starting time for the task will not be changed at your whim!"

Harry just dropped his Rowan wand into his hand and cast a flame whip which he used to cleave through the High Table close enough to Abbott to set his robes and chair alight before roaring "The task starts _NOW!_ " Then he cancelled the flame whip and used quick summoning and banishing charms to pluck Bagman from the spot where he was standing, frozen in fear, and cast him out through the doors of the Great Hall. Bagman got the point, scrabbling to his feet and running for his life towards the lake with Harry, Fleur, Terence and Viktor on his heels.

Behind them, Abbott had frantically torn off his burning robes and was standing up on the High Table dais in nothing but his shoes, socks and underwear. There was a flash as Colin Creevey took a picture at that point and the entire hall burst out laughing when Abbott demanded that picture and tried to threaten Colin but Minerva cut him off. "You will do _nothing_ to Mister Creevey if you know what's good for you Mister Abbott! It is my understanding that the Quibbler, who has exclusive media rights to all four competitors, has engaged Mister Creevey as its official photographer to cover this ridiculous tournament that you have forced on our school, so if _you_ choose to disrobe in the middle of the Great Hall on the day of the second task of the tournament, I would say that the Quibbler would be expecting Mister Creevey to capture it for them, though personally I found Duke Potter's actions prior to that far more impressive to watch…."

Colin piped up at that. "I got that too Headmistress! Wasn't Harry great?"

Minerva smiled and nodded at him before fixing Abbott with a cool look and suggesting that everyone may want to head down to the lake to see what they could see of this task, not that that would be much, seeing as it was all happening underneath Black Lake.

* * *

Bagman was trying to get his breath back as the four champions stalked onto the platform, dropping their cloaks, kicking off their shoes and stuffing (or pretending to stuff) gillyweed into their mouths in readiness to dive into the lake, but it only took one baleful glare from Harry to make him hurriedly announce that the task was starting and set off a canon blast. They all dove into the lake as the gills and webbed hands and feet formed, Harry and Fleur swimming down out of sight before they morphed their legs into Mer tails and shooting off ahead of Terence and Viktor, but the others knew the plan and that Gemma, Hermione and Gabrielle would be protected as soon as they reached the Mer village so they just swam as fast as they could in the direction that Harry had told them.

Down at the Mer village, the French agents heard the cannon blast go off to start the task about twenty minutes early and started moving in to deal with the Veela and the Mudblood and then set compulsions on some of the bigger Mermen to send them into a rampage, but they'd hardly moved before they were hit with massively overpowered stunners from the Lady's schlag-ruthes. The witches and wizards on the Lady used the schlag-ruthes to summon them into the air bubble over the Lady's deck before they could drown, securing them there as they settled down to watch over the hostages and ensure that nothing too bad happened to them, especially Gabrielle and Hermione.

Unfortunately, the ones who'd been fired from the Ministry's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures had also bribed some of the Mermen to ensure that the Veela and the Mudblood did not survive, so they were prodding them with their tridents and getting angry because they weren't bleeding. When they ripped their robes open, they found the dragonhide armour that covered them from neck to ankle and wrist and they were winding themselves up to cut their throats or something when a strange Merman and Mermaid burst into the village, Harry and Fleur.

They took one look at what was being done to Hermione and Gabrielle and their wands came out, seconds later the Mermen clustered around them began exploding in clouds of blood. That of course made the other Mermen attack, but between Harry and Fleur's wands (and Hermione and Gabrielle's too once they were revived by Harry and Fleur's touch when they tried to free them) and the schlag-ruthes on the Black Lady, it wasn't hard to keep them back until Terence and Viktor arrived. Hermione went to Terence before he could reach Gemma and went through a pantomime to ensure that he knew to have gillyweed ready in case she was set to wake at his touch as well, something that Terence was grateful for because she _was_. None of them were too surprised to find that Hannah Abbott was the only one not set up to drown at the bottom of the lake when she was rescued.

Once the hostages had all been freed and the three girls had dropped their robes so that they could swim more freely in the dragonhide armour like Terence and Victor, they tied Hannah's robes tight around her so that they didn't get a display of what she was, or wasn't, wearing under her robes and Harry tied her tether to his belt, as he and Fleur were much more powerful swimmers in their current forms than the ones in the gillyweed form. They kept an eyes out for Mers on the way back to the lake shore, and they were being shadowed by the disillusioned Black Lady, but the Mers seemed to have learned their lesson and stayed back.

 **A/N: The bit about 'human growth cycles' actually has basis in fact, 0-7, 8-14 and 15-21 are recognised as specific development periods for children, FWIW.**


	16. End Game

**Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will probably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

Harry and Fleur changed their tails back when they got close to the surface. They only had to wait five minutes or so for the effects of the gillyweed to wear off for Terence, Viktor and Gemma so that they could breath above water again, but they passed Hannah up while they were waiting and Harry saw her father quickly moving to cast something over her when she was laid on the deck. He soon worked out what that had been for because he caught Abbott's smirk when Gemma collapsed after she was pulled from the water and tried to stand, so he leapt from the water, grabbing Abbott by the front of his robes. As Abbott stared at him in terror Harry hit him with a vicious legilimency attack, throwing him at one of the Aurors on the deck and barking "Arrest him for attempted murder!" when he was done before turning to Gemma to cast the proper counter to the stasis charm that included the curse which was draining her energy away.

After the Matriarch Bondings and other gains, Hermione and Gabrielle probably had twenty to thirty times Gemma's energy reserves, so they could safely wait a little to have the curse removed, but an ordinary witch wouldn't have survived more than half an hour past the expected finish time for the task and Gemma had been losing energy faster than she would have if she had remained under stasis, especially as she'd swum all the way back from the bottom of the lake. Fudge, Abbott and the other Ministry officials were all demanding that Harry be arrested for attacking Abbott like that but Amelia silenced them and requested an explanation from Harry, so he told her about how Hermione and Gabrielle were being stabbed with tridents when he and Fleur arrived in the Mer village, how Gemma, Hermione and Gabrielle had all been set up to drown at the bottom of the lake because they woke up at their rescuer's touch, and that the girls _would_ have drowned if they hadn't all been carrying extra gillyweed in case the task took longer than expected.

He also explained what he had seen when they got back to the dock, how Abbott had urgently cast something over his daughter the moment she came out of the lake and how he'd smirked when Gemma collapsed, so he obviously knew exactly what was going on. That was what moved him to use Legilimency on Abbott to discover just what had been cast on the girls and how to counter it, and he pointed out that they could confirm that the curse which was part of the stasis charms cast on the girls without permission was draining their energy fast enough to kill anyone like Gemma who had normal reserves within the next half an hour or so by questioning Abbott under Veritaserum, so the _minimum_ charge for that alone should be four counts of attempted murder, taking the intended victims' status, the fact that extra steps had been taken to make three of them drown at the bottom of the lake and have two of them killed by the Mers as well into account. Amelia nodded, as she was well aware of the titles and relationships shared between him, Hermione, Fleur and Gabrielle and the fact that the house of Fawley was officially recorded as being vassals under the protectorate of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, so the extra steps intended to kill them specifically meant that this would not be a simple case.

Knowing that the people behind this would try to find a way to shut Abbott up before they could officially question him, Amelia called for Veritaserum and questioned him then and there in front of plenty of witnesses. Fudge and the others tried to stop her of course but she was a woman on a mission, and half of the Ministry officials were arrested before they could escape, others who had come along to gloat but tried to leave when they heard about what was coming out were informally detained to 'give their version of what they saw' until they finished getting the names out of Abbott and the others arrested. Once again, it was only the fact that no-one had trusted Fudge to keep secrets that saved him because he wasn't involved enough to be caught in the net that was cast. Strangely enough, Bagman wasn't part of it either, but Rosier was of course, especially after crewmen appeared from the Black Lady, carrying the ones that they'd captured while they were trying to finish off Gabrielle and Hermione down in the Mer Village and cover up the evidence. They also brought Hermione, Gabrielle and Gemma's robes, which they'd summoned to the Lady as they left the village, and Amelia's blood ran cold when she saw all the holes in Gabrielle and Hermione's robes from being stabbed with the Mermen's tridents, which the DMLE healers' reports showed matched up to many of the bruises forming on the girls' bodies after they removed their dragonskin armour so that they could be examined. When Gemma removed her armour, they confirmed that she had been spared that treatment, as had Hannah Abbott, but they had no difficulty in examining _her_ because she was naked under her robes, apparently she had been planning to…. _reward_ her rescuer once they were out of the lake.

When the Mer Chieftain came up, demanding justice and reparation for the half dozen Mermen that Harry, Fleur and Hermione had killed, the situation got rather tense until he finally admitted that some of his people had taken bribes to make sure that two of the humans and the two birdwomen died. He tried to argue that the terms of the age old feud between the Merpeople and the birdwomen meant that the lives of any of them who came into his people's domain were forfeit anyway, but he was adamant that they had been specifically ordered to make sure Fleur and Gabrielle died.

While there was no-one else around who understood Mermish, Harry told the Chieftain that the human female and the two birdwomen they were trying to kill were his _bonded_ mates, so if the Mers didn't give up _all_ the details relating to the ones who had set the Mers to kill them, he would bring the ship which had helped them down there to their Mer village and wipe out every last one of his people so that his clan would cease to exist, and word of their shame would be spread among the people. The Mer Chieftain recognised that this wizard knew the ways of the people and was a warrior who could and would do exactly as he said for attacking his bonded mates, and that he would be within his rights to do so, so he quickly had _everyone_ who'd had any dealings with the humans brought up to answer his questions. As luck would have it, the goblin versions of pensieves had wider tolerances than the wizarding ones, so they managed to get clear memories of nearly everything said by just about everyone who'd given the Mers any instructions about what to do to them, including the ones who had bribed the Mermen to kill him, Hermione, Fleur and Gabrielle. What came out of that was proof that _everyone_ who'd dealt with the Mers had been trying to set them up to die down there, not one of them had given any instructions to spare them. As Amelia was being told what was said, she was getting grimmer and grimmer by the minute, the only good thing that came out of what they were seeing and hearing was that they had clear images of everyone who had talked to the Mers, so they didn't have to rely on the Mers identifying them and Amelia was sending Aurors off to pick them up as soon as someone put a name to the image.

It wasn't ordinary Aurors she was using for this, as nearly everyone she had at Hogwarts was an ex-werewolf who'd been hired since she got the Wizengamot authorisation to hire whoever she needed, and she trusted them implicitly. She chuckled to herself about that, because she was one of the few who knew that, as good as the wolf Aurors she hired were, the best of the ex-werewolves were going into either the family's Corvus companies, or Her Majesty's Special Security Service. For over a year now she'd been secretly working with select members of the Muggle intelligence and security services who'd been read into the secret of the Magical world, feeding them information about risks coming from the Magical world and in return getting information that only their technology could provide, which helped her people track down the ones that they couldn't find on their own. That was how they located Fenrir Greyback and his rabid followers, and the Special Security Service had provided an elite squad made up of Muggleborn Witches and Wizards, Magical and Non-Magical ex-werewolves and battle hardened Non-Magical warriors (many of them Squibs) to help take Greyback and his followers down.

The ex-werewolves hired by the Corvus companies were mainly Magical, but that was because most of them had Magical 'day jobs'. Many of them worked in the apothecaries that brewed the 'improved Wolfsbane' among other things, but they had all sorts of other companies covering things like ward creation, curse breaking, schools and the like. Fred and George's 'joke shop' was one of these because many of the brilliant things they thought up were more useful than funny. As many of the ex-werewolves had had little or no Magical Education, especially if they had been turned as children, they were getting that education in the Corvus schools, but Magical and Non-Magical combat training got equal time to the Corvus people's other education because the family knew that they were heading into another war, even if it was more undercover than the war with Riddle and his Death Eaters had been. The ones who did have a Magical education were going through the combat training, but many of them were also taking the opportunity to extend their education, getting their NEWTS and and Masteries. Much of Harry and the others' defence and combat training was done with the Corvus people, because the harsher methods used there made them tougher, faster and more effective fighters. They were all developing effective skills much faster than they would have through conventional training, and that was why Amelia's wolf Aurors and better prospects were training with them to get the Auror Office up to speed faster.

* * *

The British and French Aurors were quite busy for the next couple of days, rounding up everyone who had been named in the questioning. When the trials started, the French authorities couldn't work out how the famous Harry Potter appeared when required in their trials, as they knew that he was involved in British trials at the same time, but he was somehow there whenever his presence was required. As a result of the trials over the actions of the British and French Ministry officials and their accomplices over the next couple of months, several were executed, many more more were sentenced to life imprisonment or shorter prison terms, and nearly a score of British and French families (over half of them quite rich and powerful) were permanently eradicated with their titles, holdings and everything else belonging to them being claimed by the families of their intended victims. In some cases the guilty parties' magic was taken along with their family magic in Britain. Harry thought it poetic justice to take Tony Abbott's magic and give it to Gemma (especially when the family she was marrying into were involved in running the core businesses that had been taken from the Abbotts, as the secret processes only Abbott knew about were quite helpful in that).

One of the British titles they claimed was used to reinstate the House of Farley's Noble and Ancient status (Gemma's father was truly grateful for their house being raised to its former status again, all the more so because it wasn't expected, and this sealed the House of Farley's votes and support for the Wizards Council Alliance, the House of Higgs as well because when Terence married Gemma and they took over from their fathers as Heads of their Houses, the Higgs family would be elevated to Noble). The titles, holdings and fortunes of a number of other Noble and Ancient families were used to elevate the remainder of Harry and Hermione's Most Ancient Druid Houses to Noble and Most Ancient Houses, because being Noble Houses multiplied their voting power in the Wizengamot. As Consort to the Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Cathbad, Harry also used the primary title of the Noble and Ancient House of Macmillan to elevate the Most Ancient Druid House of Cathbad to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Cathbad and give Luna the title of Countess Cathbad in her own right.

These titles and holdings could only be allocated to the houses of those directly involved in the proceedings, and they made sure to wring the maximum political advantage from the reallocations, but Harry was happy to be able to use Gemma's position as Heiress to the House of Farley to allocate a title to her family and reinstate the House of Farley's Noble and Ancient status, and also that he could use his position as Consort to the Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Cathbad to use Earl Macmillan's title to elevate Luna's house to Noble and Most Ancient and Luna to Countess Cathbad….. Part of the reason for doing this was that as Luna's father held the sole Barony of the House of Lovegood and the House of Cathbad was a Druid House, Luna hadn't held any titles in her own right before that and Harry wanted her to be on a more equal standing with Hermione and the other girls. It wasn't an issue within the family of course, but when their plural relationship became public knowledge down the track, he wanted to stop others using that to imply that Luna was anything less than the rest of them. He couldn't do this for Daphne or Astoria yet because he wasn't currently married into their houses, but when house politics _did_ give them the opportunity to legitimately allocate titles to the Houses of Yowann and Greengrass, they would be doing that so that Astoria and Daphne would also hold titles in their own rights as Heiresses to their parents' houses.

Meanwhile, the wealth, titles and holdings of five French Noblesse families and three other wealthy families were forfeited to the French Noblesse Ancienne families of Delacour, Dubois and Flamel, claiming Comte Rosier's title for the Heiress to the House of Delacour, Comte Lestrange's title for the Heir to the House of Flamel and Comtesse Bordeaux's title for the Heiress to the House of Dubois meant that Fleur was elevated to Comtesse Delacour-Flamel as Heiress to the Noblesse Ancienne House of Delacour and Consort of the Heir to the French Noblesse Ancienne House of Flamel, while Gabrielle became Countess Flamel-Dubois as Consort to the Head of the British Noble and Ancient House of Flamel and Heiress to the Noblesse Ancienne House of Dubois (Fleur and Harry would most likely remain Heiress and Heir to the Houses of Delacour and Flamel for quite some time, so once again this put Fleur on a more equal footing with the other girls). In Magical Britain, the Wizards Council Alliance now had a strong majority if they voted together (which of course they did on important matters), but acquiring the titles, holdings and votes of half a dozen of the most powerful houses opposing them in Magical France gave the Delacour/Flamel Alliance enough weight to start getting changes made.

While Magical France was officially a Republic as there was no King, the French Noblesse Ancienne Houses held enough power that the scandal arising from the plot to undermine Jean-Pierre and end his line by murdering his daughters and heirs was sufficient cause to topple the President of Magical France, especially when the Heir to the French Noblesse Ancienne House of Flamel was also being targeted. The rest of the government of Magical France scrabbled to gain favour with the winning side when they saw that, so Jean-Pierre was elected as the new President without opposition. This gave Jean-Pierre the opportunity to ensure that those who replaced the French Ministry officials who had been executed, imprisoned or fired over the affair were _not_ in any way affiliated with the group who had been behind the plot against his family.

Across the channel, they managed to block most of the attempts of the people behind Fudge to replace those who had been executed, imprisoned or fired with their people, and with Abbott being sent to Azkaban for fifty years as one of the key members of the plot against Harry and the others, influence applied by the ICW helped them get the Department of International Magical Cooperation disbanded and its functions incorporated into Arthur's renamed Department of Foreign and Domestic Liaisons. The ICW's influence also got Madam Marchbanks instated as the Director of Magical Education, because the Wizarding Examination Authority performed the vast majority of the functions in this Department and the previous Director of Magical Education had been fired for abusing his authority by trying to force Hogwarts to give in to the demands of the tournament organisers.

These changes were of course a major blow to the plans of the people behind Fudge because they no longer controlled anything of any importance in the Ministry, Fudge was no more than a figurehead and his new Senior Undersecretary nothing but a stooge. The fact that Fudge had in fact been _ordered_ to take Diggory on as his new Undersecretary for that very reason did nothing to reduce their anger at Fudge for letting this happen, all the idiot had to do was maintain the status quo until the time was right but he couldn't even do that!

* * *

With Abbott and Rosier in prison, the plans for the third task of the tournament were ripped apart and most of the elements were discarded. The Bulgarians had no complaints about this, because they saw that there had been nothing in the original plans to keep their prized quidditch star safe as they had been assured he would be. Jones and Bagman fought the changes (one because he was under orders and wanted revenge, the other because he still stupidly believed that he could recoup his losses betting on this tournament because some of the champions were bound to die in the planned task), but with Arthur replacing Abbott and someone with integrity now representing the French, they were overruled, and compulsions were placed on them to ensure that they didn't remember or tell anyone else about the changes once they left the meetings.

The third task was redesigned to be challenging rather than lethal, and as such all of the XXXXX creatures and most of the XXXX ones were removed, but the pair of illegally purchased sphinxes (only one was planned for the task but they had a spare in case one died before the task, they were both to be killed and sold for potions ingredients etc after the task to recoup some of the costs) who were currently being smuggled into Britain were left in, as they would actually make good challenges, and Harry wanted to offer them a home at Potter Manor or one of their other estates (even if Britain proved too cold for them, many of their estates in the south of France or Spain, around the Mediterranean, in Africa, India, the East Indies, Australia, the Americas or Isla Negra should be warm enough). If they wished to return to Egypt they would of course take them back, but sphinxes were obviously no longer given the respect they were due in Egypt if the government there was willing to sell them off to be stunned, locked in boxes and secretly shipped off to Britain to be used in a tournament and then slaughtered once they'd served their purpose. Harry was confident that the sphinxes would choose to stay with the family when they saw the proof of the negotiations and their intended fate. They also replaced most of the lethal traps with challenges which would test the contestants' skill and intellect. Harry and Fleur were kept out of the planning for these challenges to make it a fairer test, because they didn't mind competing now that it actually _was_ a contest, rather than an assassination attempt.

Of course they didn't tell the Bulgarians about the portkey that was being placed on the cup to take the 'winner' (which Harry was still being set up to be) off to another location to be slaughtered in a fake ritual which the Death Eaters would be blamed for. Harry was sick of this shite, he and Hermione (with Luna's help) had engineered and brought about the final demise of Riddle and his key Death Eaters within a couple of months of their arrival in this timeline, but he was _still_ being made to go through all the same shite as he had in the other timeline…. That was apparently his lot in life, same shite, just a slightly different flavour!

They knew that Jones had been tasked with setting up the portkey on the cup, but he didn't know where that portkey would take whoever grabbed the cup, so their plan was to switch the cup for a safe facsimile as soon as Jones left the maze and then extract the portkey destination from it. They would send the Black Lady to that location with a team of picked Corvus, Auror and Special Security Service people (the Black Lady's crew was made up of the best warriors the family had, while they had 'day jobs' with the Corvus companies, most of them were Magical ex-werewolves who were constantly working to further hone their combat skills), and when she was close enough to engage the location, a separate team of Amelia's wolf Aurors would portkey into the location and engage them on the ground to distract them. The plan was to use the Lady's schlag-ruthes to stun as many of the ones waiting as possible before they could escape, so that they could try and extract as much information about the ones behind this as possible.

The biggest problem they had with this new threat was the fact that the ones pulling the strings this time were much more clever than Riddle or anyone else they'd faced before. When they tried to extract information from the ones captured at the Quidditch World Cup, they discovered that anyone who actually knew anything important had been made to take oaths which killed them if they tried to tell what they knew. The traps had been cunningly laid to silence them before they could reveal anything critical, so the only thing of any real potential import that they managed to get out of them before they died was a reference to 'The Minister' being in charge. Even that was of questionable value though, because while there was no way that 'The Minister' referred to Fudge ( _he_ couldn't organise a screw in a two sickle brothel), they couldn't work out who in the seven hells it _did_ refer to.

It was hard not to laugh at Jones struggling to break the compulsions against remembering or letting anyone else discover the changes to the third task. Bagman on the other hand had such a weak mind that he forgot all about the changes as soon as he left the meeting, he just went on his merry way, dreaming of how this tournament was going to make him rich. This was so reminiscent of the Ron Weasley from the other timeline that Harry and Hermione began to wonder whether Bagman was yet another one of Fudge's children.

* * *

Once the trials of the ones who'd tried to have them killed in the second task finished, Harry, Hermione and the others concentrated on their studies, because they had had a lot of distractions over the previous months. Harry, Hermione and Fleur were all set to finish their NEWTs that year, and the others would have most of them done too, so it should be mainly their masteries that were being worked on the following year.

Of course, they were still involved in the family's plans outside of Hogwarts, and it was Luna who came up with the perfect candidate to replace Fudge. "You've been the Minister in at least two possible futures Uncle Frank, and you've done quite well. Auntie Ami, Uncle Arthur, Uncle Saul and Auntie Gris can do more good where they are, because Auntie Ami and Uncle Arthur are controlling most of the Ministry from their current positions….." She stopped and looked at Amelia and Arthur at that point. "But I _do_ think that it would be best if you two held off on getting married until after we get Uncle Frank elected as Minister, because your wedding is going to become the centre of attention and that may give the other side a chance to try to slip something through while people are distracted."

Amelia blushed at that, but chided herself for not expecting it, because while she and Arthur had tried to be discreet you couldn't hide things from a seer of Luna's calibre, so she just nodded and Luna went on.

"I know that some people will try and use the fact that Uncle Frank and Auntie Alice were in Saint Mungo's for ten years, but Uncle Frank has made himself quite a reputation with what he's achieved in the Investigations office over the last year and they can't argue that the Longbottoms have a reputation for integrity and they're one of the richest and most powerful families in Magical Britain, so he won't be open to bribes or corruption like Minister Fudge is. The other times he was Minister, Uncle Frank was more respected than Minister Bagnold….."

She stopped at that because Hermione had just made a critical connection and was staring at her in shock, but she let Hermione tell the others what she'd realised.

" _That's_ who 'The Minister' is! Millicent Bagnold! She was a Ravenclaw and everyone said she was brilliant… That must have been why she stepped down in Ninety, to get some patsy like Fudge to take the fall for the mess Magical Britain had gotten itself into. That way, as soon as things started to improve she could step back in to 'lead Magical Britain into a new golden age', while all the dirt would stick to the idiot who jumped at the chance to be Minister after she stepped down. Maybe she got out when she did because Dumbledore warned her about what was coming, he's certainly in her pocket in this timeline so he may have been in the other timeline as well…. Harry hasn't seen any of this in Jones' head so she probably made him take the magical oaths to hide the key information too. She hadn't taken over again by the time Harry and I were killed in the other timeline, but Riddle and his Death Eaters decimated us and Dumbledore had just started nudging Britain towards recovery at that point, so she may have been waiting until it looked more promising before she took over to avoid being associated with the state it was in at the time…." She shook her head with a laugh. "She probably didn't know whether to curse us or hug us when we came back and wiped out Riddle and his Death Eaters, because her plans depended on having them as bogeymen to make the people rally to her, that must have been why she created the fake Death Eaters…. to keep her plans moving forward, but I'll bet she wants to curse us for using the Most Ancient House Laws the way we did to wipe out so many of the houses forming her support base. That must have been why she brought the tournament forward two years, she couldn't get past our controls to get rid of Harry, so she needed the tournament to kill him at least off. If we didn't have the full Wizards Council, getting rid of Harry could have been enough to prevent the Most Ancient House Laws being enacted, and I and then Luna would have probably been targeted next, because we control the most houses after him…." She stopped to think for a moment and frowned.

"I don't know whether she's keeping track of what's happening, but we have to presume that at a minimum, Bagnold is aware of most of the Houses that we control, and possibly how many votes we control and our marriages too, and therefore is trying to eliminate the threat that we represent. Getting rid of Harry and me would not only prevent the Most Ancient House Laws being enacted, it would also stop our alliance having the controlling vote in the Wizengamot, and if she can get rid of us before we have Heirs, she and the people working with her will be free to take over Magical Britain at their convenience."

The rest of them were staring at her in horror, because it all made terrible sense when she laid it out like that.

Amelia shook her head despairingly. "What was that phrase you used Hermione? Don't know whether to curse you or hug you? I think that applies here too. I think it's safe to say that you've right about who we're up against, but we were under Bagnold as the Minister for ten years and as you said, she's brilliant so beating her at her own game when she's had years to set this up will be one hell of a job…."

The other adults nodded grimly, looking despondent, so Luna tried to get the attention off Hermione by going back to the previous topic. "So I think that we can get Uncle Frank accepted as Minister, but he will need an Undersecretary who is reliable and bright enough to support him and help him deal with issues that come up… people would attack Auntie Alice if it was her so I think that Dirk Cresswell is the one we need for Uncle Frank's Undersecretary, but perhaps we should get him to give an oath to ensure his loyalty while he holds that role."

Harry and Hermione thanked her for that diversion over their link as they thought about her suggestion, and Harry spoke up because he'd heard more about Cresswell from Slughorn in the other timeline. "I remember the name, he became Head of the Goblin Liaison Office sometime in the next few years. Slughorn regarded him as a bit of a potions prodigy and sort of compared him to Mum, which was high praise from Slughorn. He's a Muggleborn but he tried to create fake documents for himself and his family to show that they were Purebloods when the Death Eaters were in control because they started sending all Muggleborns off to concentration camps…. I didn't know him personally but he was obviously bright and I don't remember anything about him selling anyone out..." He looked a question at Hermione but she shook her head. "I don't remember much about him, but he certainly sounds like someone who's worth looking into as Uncle Frank's Undersecretary…. So, leaving the Bagnold situation aside for now, what do you think about being Minister Uncle Frank? I have to admit that I rather like the sound of that."

Frank was shaking his head doubtfully but when he looked at Alice she was nodding thoughtfully. Alice caught his eye and spoke up. "I know that you don't want this any more than Harry wants his role in all of this Love, but you have to admit that Luna's making a lot of sense. The Longbottom name, and you in particular, are well respected. As Luna said, we can hold up your integrity and the fact that the Longbottom fortune means that you aren't likely to be bribed as a challenge, knowing that no-one can match you. While we fell into Dumbledore's trap before, we've made it quite clear that we won't make that mistake again and what we've achieved as part of the alliance is a matter of record. The other side _will_ try to use the fact that we were being potioned to keep us in Saint Mungo's for ten years, but once again, as Luna said, you've made quite a reputation for yourself in the last year and any argument that you've lost your touch can be shot down easily enough. I don't know anything about this Cresswell….?" She look at the others but Amelia shook her head, looking in turn at Arthur who responded.

"I have to say that I like the idea of you being Minister too Frank, and yes, I have worked with Dirk before. I didn't realise that he was Muggleborn, he's certainly hidden that well, but as Harry said, he's quite clever and I don't remember him ever trying to use anyone else to get ahead, so I'd say that he could serve well as your Undersecretary."

They went around the group and the consensus was that everyone liked the idea of Minister Longbottom and that Arthur would feel out Dirk, getting an oath to keep the matter quiet until it was resolved one way or the other. Frank reluctantly agreed to stand for Minister, but didn't like the idea of Alice working in the field without him (between what had happened to them, and James and Lily, they'd become all to aware of the dangers out there). This led to Amelia bringing up something which had been on her mind since her and Arthur's Departments had been expanded to absorb the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes and Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. With all the extra groups and functions in her department she was struggling to keep on top of the workload, and she needed someone she could trust to cover any functions she handed off, so she proposed creating a Deputy Director role for the DMLE and having Alice fill it. The role would be diverse enough to keep it interesting, and she'd very rarely be out in the field alone because she'd generally be overseeing operations. Alice agreed to think about it and in turn suggested a couple of the wolf Aurors for consideration to replace her and Frank as they'd worked with them on investigations before and their special talents and thought processes had proven very useful, they also seemed to find the investigation side more interesting than general Auror work, Amelia nodded thoughtfully as she noted down the names.

They got back to the elephant in the room after that, Bagnold. Unfortunately they all had to admit that Hermione was almost certainly correct, because Bagnold was a formidable opponent. The fact that they'd only managed to work out that it was her with clues from the future was proof of that, but they also had to admit that knowing who they were up against was a significant advantage, because they could now use their resources to keep an eye on her and see who she was dealing with.

This was quite enough to keep them all busy until the third task came around, but being forewarned meant that they were better prepared than they would have been otherwise. They agreed that it was most likely that the fake ritual would take place in a graveyard like the real one did, and Harry burst out laughing when he saw Little Hangleton on the list of graveyards that Bagnold's people were scouting. When he explained that that was where the ritual was held in the other timeline because Riddle's father's grave was there, they all agreed that Dumbledore (or Jones, depending on when it came up) must have told Bagnold about Riddle's past and that she would most likely decide to use Riddle's home town to build credibility for the idea that it was actually Riddle and his Death Eaters doing this. They kept an eye on all of the graveyards via the satellite imagery that Amelia was being fed by the Special Security Service, but had extra cameras on Little Hangleton and the activity there made it almost certain that that was the spot. This in turn improved their prospects because the less time they wasted confirming the location and getting the Black Lady in place, the more likely they were to capture everyone at the site.

* * *

On the day of the third task, a Confundus on Jones was enough to prevent him noting that the creatures and traps in the maze weren't the original death traps when he was placing the cup with the corrupted port key inside the maze. As planned, they switched out the cup as soon as he left the maze and quickly confirmed that it was set to take whoever picked it up to the graveyard in Little Hangleton. As soon as the Black Lady was in position, the wolf Aurors activated the portkey, and the thirty or so thugs waiting in the graveyard in Death Eater cloaks and masks got a nasty shock when the portkey activated early, and instead of one confused schoolboy they were facing a dozen of the DMLE's best wolf Aurors, fully alert, wands out and covered from head to toe in dragonhide armour. On top of that, massively overpowered spells were raining down on the from above too. None of them had a chance to drop the anti-apparation wards before they were stunned so none of them got away.

Back at Hogwarts, Harry and the others were having fun in the third task, because the family, half of the staff of Hogwarts, Madame Maxime and Professor Branimir had thought up challenges for the maze that really tested them. One fun trick was the fact that the two Sphinxes were being portkeyed around the maze, so that they had to get past them multiple times. In the end, it was Viktor who stumbled into the centre of the maze first and took the cup to win the tournament after forty minutes or so, which meant that the Bulgarian government got what it wanted.

It was only when the triumphant Bulgarian seeker was portkeyed back to the starting point for the maze with the cup that the watchers for other side realised that it hadn't gone as they planned, but they got another surprise when they tried to run out to report this, because Amelia had disillusioned Aurors stationed around the stands, waiting for exactly that type of behaviour, so they were all stunned, secured and portkeyed back to the DMLE's holding cells to be asked a few questions.

Unfortunately, they didn't have enough evidence to grab Bagnold yet _,_ but they _were_ watching her estate and recording the comings and goings of her panicking minions. One thing they found promising was that Bagnold appeared to be supremely confident that no-one could break the controls she used to ensure that her minions couldn't name her or identify their operation, so the operation kept on as it was.

* * *

Another thing that worked out well for them was the fact that, while Fudge's loyal minions may have kept his name out of everything to protect him, the only name that Bagnold was worried about keeping hidden was her own, so they got enough evidence on Fudge to put him on trial for his part in the plots to use the Triwizard Tournament to assassinate Duke Potter among others.

Fudge got a nasty shock in court when he was reminded that the immunity from prosecution for the sitting Minister and Chief Warlock had in fact been revoked nearly two years before by the incoming Chief Warlock and Chief Witch. He'd blindly trusted the ones who told him what to do, so when they said that they would put everything back the way it was when they got back into power, he missed the all important line there ' _when we get back into power'._ Looking at the faces smirking at him from the Wizengamot benches (no-one had _ever_ liked the idiot, it had always been taken as a given that he was just keeping the seat warm until someone better came along, they were only surprised that it took this long), he had a rare moment of clarity, because he suddenly realised that he was over a barrel and was about to get screwed something awful. Quite a few people in Magical Britain would have been shocked to hear that he had actually managed to work that out.

By the end of his trial, the House of Fudge had been eradicated, nearly everything they owned was forfeited to the House of Potter and Cornelius Burke was headed for fifteen years in Azkaban's minimum security cells (he'd reverted to his mother's maiden name when the name of Fudge was eradicated). Harry made arrangements for Millicent Burke's tuition at Hogwarts to be paid until she finished her education, with enough of a stipend for her to live with her mother in modest but comfortable circumstances. Similar arrangements were made for Cornelius' wife, with the proviso that she continued to look after Cornelius' son Ronald. She wasn't at all happy with that idea, but she was obviously the bright one in the family because she understood that if she refused, she would lose both the stipend and modest cottage allocated to her.

As soon as Cornelius was sentenced, Cyrus Greengrass nominated Frank for interim Minister for Magic, with Alastor Moody immediately seconding the motion. Even though they could have voted him in without outside assistance, it was interesting to note that the vote was almost unanimous. Amos Diggory's anger at the fact that he hadn't even been nominated (because as the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, he'd been expecting that the interim Minister's role would be his) wasn't missed by those in the chamber.

As they decided that after two years, they'd gotten everything of use from Albus Jones, Jones was tried for his crimes over that period as well. He was sentenced to fifteen years in Azkaban's medium security cells, but while he'd already lost all of his possessions and his prized Order of Merlin First Class (that had been stripped from him after the truth came out about what really happened with Grindelwald), Harry didn't believe that he'd atoned for all of the pain, suffering and death he'd been responsible for over the last century, so he stripped him of the rest of his magic before he left the court room. He found it impossible to dredge up even a shred of remorse when he heard that Jones hadn't lasted a week in Azkaban.

Voting in the new Minister for Magic had to be postponed until after all the trials finished, because Bagnold's faction screamed bias whenever the Chief Warlock and Chief Witch rejected nominations for anyone currently awaiting trial. In the end, the Bagnold camp had to settle for Elphias Doge as their candidate for Minister, because they didn't have enough control of the Ministry for Bagnold to show her hand yet and after all their other nominations had been tried, the majority of them had been incarcerated in Azkaban and stripped of their titles, fortunes, houses and names.

While Amos Diggory had escaped being charged with anything and still had his job as Senior Undersecretary to the Minister at the Ministry of Magic, he was probably the only one who didn't already know that he would be losing that job as soon as the new Minister was elected, and more to the point he had absolutely no credibility so Bagnold wasn't about to waste a nomination on him. After losing out to a man who had been written off as being largely ineffectual and a joke for over a century, the sensible thing for Diggory to do would have been to bow out gracefully with what dignity he had left, but Amos Diggory wasn't likely to be accused of being sensible, so it was little surprise when he nominated himself as a candidate for Minister and someone seconded him for a laugh.

The remnants of the Dark Houses nominated Phineas Burke of Borgin and Burkes as their candidate, so the election came down to Earl Francis Longbottom, Elphias Doge, Amos Diggory and Phineas Burke.

It was no surprise to most people when Frank got well over three quarters of the votes, the only surprise was that Diggory and Doge were stupid enough to demand that the vote count be read out. Diggory stormed out in a rage when laughter erupted at the announcement of "Amos Diggory, one vote!", but Elphias Doge looked stricken when his votes were read out, because it was obvious that he hadn't even gotten two thirds of what votes remained with Bagnold's faction. Phineas Burke looked pleased though, because it appeared that he must have gotten a few of the votes that Doge had lost.

Once they'd gone through the formality of swearing Frank in as Minister for Magic, he nominated and had Dirk Cresswell formally accepted as his new Senior Undersecretary and they closed the session.

* * *

Frank was dreading what was going to happen next, because Dirk needed to move into his office and get to work so they packed up Diggory's personal effects and sent them to his home. As Diggory had gone straight home without a word to anyone, they included the letter thanking him for his service to the Ministry, but advising him that as the Minister had selected his own Undersecretary there were no longer any suitable positions available for him at the Ministry and therefore his employment with the Ministry had been terminated (there was no such thing as tenure in the Ministry, Purebloods were generally guaranteed their positions by the old boys network, but they could be tossed out at any time with nothing if they crossed the wrong people). Harry and Sirius actually donated the money to give Diggory a generous severance package, but they knew that this wasn't going to go well.

Sure enough, Diggory was in Frank's office within half an hour, screaming, ranting and raving about the fact that he was the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and he wasn't going to give up his position! (Strangely enough, he didn't say one word in this diatribe about returning any of the rather large severance payment that had been made into the Diggory vaults, so he presumably regarded that as what was due to him.) Frank just stepped aside to avoid the curse Diggory tried to hit him with when he ran out of things to say, then quickly drew his own wand and stunned him, calling for the DMLE to come and take him to the holding cells. The penalties for an unprovoked attempt to curse the Minister for Magic (who also happened to be the Head of a Noble and Most Ancient House) in front of witnesses in the Minister's own office would have taken all of that severance package they gave him and more, but Frank didn't want to penalise the Diggory family any more than necessary for Amos' stupidity, so he called his wife Harriet in to try and work something out.

When Harriet heard what her stupid husband had done she burst into tears. Frank had never been any good with crying women, so Alice came in and settled her down so that they could try and work out a solution to the problem. They agreed that the severance package would be moved from the Diggory vault to another vault under Harriet's sole control so that she could try and ensure that the family could survive long enough to get back on their feet again, and at her request what was left of her dowry money was also moved to the same vault so she could use that to pay the family's bills too. She burst into tears again, saying that she couldn't let them do that when they told her that Cedric's tuition at Hogwarts would be paid through to when he finished there so she didn't need to worry about that, but Alice said that Cedric was a young man with great potential so it was in Britain's interests to ensure that he had a chance to realise that potential. Harriet agreed that setting the wards of the Ministry building to prevent Amos returning again would be a sensible precaution, as would snapping his wand and not letting him get another wand until he'd calmed down. They brought Cedric in from Hogwarts to explain the situation to him, and while she called him to task for the language he used when he was told what his father had done, Harriet couldn't disagree with the sentiment.

After they'd written up the terms of the agreed conditions to waive the hefty fines and prison sentence due for attacking the Minister for Magic and Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom, Harriet and Cedric signed the agreement for the Diggory family, apologised again for Amos' behaviour and Cedric returned to Hogwarts. Amos and Harriet were escorted back to Diggory House by two DMLE Patrolmen, who made him formally confirm that he understood the conditions that applied to the Diggory family being spared the penalties for his actions, snapping and incinerating his wand in front of him and warning him that if they heard even a hint that he'd tried to take any of this out on Mrs Diggory, he'd be back in a cell faster than he could spit, and that they'd be testifying that he resisted arrest to explain the state he arrived in. With that they reminded Harriet how to contact them if she needed any help and left.

Amos Diggory was not a happy wizard! In his mind he had been kicked out of the Ministry without cause, his wife and son had betrayed him and everyone else he called to try and get help to fight this just laughed at him, calling him an idiot. He did calm down after a week or two, strangely enough it took his son swearing at him and telling him that he'd almost destroyed their family with his stupidity to make him see that it was _him_ who was to blame here, not Harriet or Cedric. His temper flared up again when he tried to find a job though, because he was told categorically that he would _never_ be allowed back into the Ministry, and he was laughed at whenever he applied for jobs at a suitable level for his seniority. It was quite a shock to realise that, without being able to get back into the one place where being a Pureblood had always guaranteed him a job no matter what, the best job he could hope to get was working in a pub or a store, because he didn't really have the skills to qualify for any better jobs. That was how he ended up working as the barman at the pub in Ottery St Catchpole.

 ** **A/N: In case it didn't show, I never really liked the Amos Diggory character, Cedric was OK but Amos was a tool. ;^)****


	17. Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead

**The story will probably wind up with this chapter, the wicked witch of the west has shown her hand so this is a nice tidy spot to deal with her and close it off….. which leads me to a warning.**

 **The way her machinations are exposed so that she can be dealt with once and for all will be an extremely nasty, desperate plot to bring down Arthur and the rest of them by framing them all for trying to cover up disgusting acts against a young girl by Arthur's sons, because their control of Magical Britain is accepted and embraced by people because they are held up to be everything that is good and true. We also have the sordid tale of Albus Dumbledore's foul tastes and actions. I will tag the beginning and end of the descriptions of these so people can skip them if they don't want to read that sort of thing.**

 **Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will probably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.**

Very few of the other students had heard anything about most of the students of the Corvus group completing their NEWTs within 2-4 years, getting some of the best results in Hogwarts' history…. Not that it would have made any difference if they had, because they wouldn't have believed it, because they could never accept that anyone could be that far ahead of them, oh they accepted that Potter's magic was freakishly powerful and advanced for his age, but that was put down to the fact that he'd used those old laws to steal that magic when he was stripping magic from witches and wizards (which, strangely enough, was probably the closest to the truth of all the stories being spread about him because knowledge of spells like the flame whip _did_ come from Dumbledore and others when he was stripping their magic from them). Whatever the others knew, they had less than twenty NEWTs left between them to be completed, and most of them were Hagrid, Arabella and Jean's. For the most part the Corvus students were concentrating on their Masteries, because the rest of them were doing at least two or three Masteries.

For most of the students at Hogwarts, they were going into a normal year. They had to work much harder under Professor McGonagall's regime than they had under Dumbledore's, but the majority of them were prepared to admit that they were learning much more, and much faster to boot. The ICW's Education Authority was keeping a close eye on Hogwarts now because of all the changes that had been implemented, so they were confident that the results they were seeing were true and accurate. The fact was that, in the last two years, Hogwarts had gone from being regarded as a joke by the rest of the world to gaining considerable respect for how well its students were performing. At the end of the first year under McGonagall, the improvement in the students' results had been quite noticeable, but after two years of effort and encouragement, Hogwarts' regular students' names were appearing on the ICW's best results lists again for the first time in over fifty years! By anyone's standards, that was incredible.

The students all knew what happened to Professor Jones from the Daily Prophet articles, but very few of them were at all upset about his demise because he'd been much like Snape, one of the leading masters in his field, but unable or unwilling to teach it well. Professor McGonagall was still teaching the NEWT level classes for Transfiguration, but forewarned by the family discussions she'd added an extra Transfiguration Master to the ones she she was hiring to teach the lower years before Jones' trial (the classes were both getting bigger and being split up according to ability, as per the practices in the non-magical schools, so they needed extra teachers to meet the demand). There was one benefit accruing from the old bastard's demise though, because hearing about the way Jones died in Azkaban scared Selwyn so much that he was desperately trying to avoid trouble and convince them that he really was worth keeping on as a teacher. He was still creepy, but the students were getting all sorts of useful gems of information out of him now.

When Aberforth Dumbledore was told that his brother had died, his only reaction was… "This round's on the house people, 'cause the old goat fukr's dead!"

Of course, not everyone was happy with the way things were going, and the witch who had been certain that she'd have Magical Britain in the palm of her hand by now was at once both furious and perplexed…. Furious because those Wizards Council people had upset all her plans when they overturned the established order in Magical Britain, and perplexed because she couldn't for the life of her work out _how_ they'd done this.

She realised that she should seen the writing on the wall when Amelia Bones suddenly pulled Pettigrew and Black out of thin air for their trials, and Potter had showed up much the same way, demonstrating a frightening depth of knowledge of the Wizarding world for a boy who Dumbledore had assured her knew absolutely nothing about their world because he was hidden away in the Muggle world under the boot of rabid magic hating Muggles who kept him bruised, bloodied, half starved and totally downtrodden, treating him worse than any house elf and locking him in a dank, dark cupboard if he wasn't working, but that supposedly ignorant, beaten and starved boy had displayed considerable poise and knowledge in the Wizengamot chamber, along with both the Potter Head of House and Black Heir's rings…. _WHY_ had she listened to that old fool Dumbledore?

 **First unpleasant section begins.**

After all, that was hardly the first time he'd been so wrong, he'd confessed his earlier mistakes…. or more to the point…. _crimes_ to her when he was seeking her cooperation after the Potters had been killed. He'd admitted how he'd _created_ Voldemort when he tried to mould an orphaned Half-Blood (if you could call him that, seeing as his mother was barely Magical) child who showed promise into a better, more malleable version of Grindelwald, the lover who'd rejected him, and they saw how well _that_ turned out, didn't they? Maybe Riddle wouldn't have turned out the way he had if he didn't have Dumbledore forcing him to have sex with him from the time he first came to Hogwarts, but she was willing to bet the old man's manipulations would have created a monster anyway.

The old fool had tried again with that peacock Lockhart, but at least _he_ had been a willing party in having sex with just about anyone if he got something out of it, even at a shockingly young age, but there was no way that Lockhart could have ever become another Grindelwald or Riddle as he was a decidedly mediocre wizard as well as a self serving idiot.… hmmm, from what she heard Abbott's daughter was much like Lockhart in many ways, perhaps they could make use of that?…. Dumbledore was so stupid, compelling the hat to put Lockhart into Ravenclaw instead of Slytherin in the hope that if he was in a different house he wouldn't turn out dark like Tom? Hmmph! It wasn't being a _Slytherin_ that had made Riddle dark, it was what the old man was doing to him!

 **First unpleasant section ends.**

Interestingly enough, it wasn't Lockhart who had been the target of Dumbledore's machinations that time though, no, he'd had his sights set on James Potter, reasoning that his mistake had been trying to turn a Half-Blood orphan from the Muggle world into a leader of the Magical world. He hadn't needed to compel the hat to get Potter into Gryffindor, the Potter hero complex almost guaranteed that that was where he'd go, but he had stacked the deck to try and ensure that his champion turned out the way he wanted, not Black, Dumbledore had been as shocked as anyone when _he_ was sorted into Gryffindor, but back in the early Sixties he'd pointed Fenrir Greyback at Lyall Lupin and his family because he knew about Greyback's obsession with turning children.

Dumbledore had seen what his little plaything was getting up to back then and realised that he'd need to be able to liaise with the werewolves in the foreseeable future, so he'd laid the groundwork to have a group of werewolves on tap who were loyal to him. Of all the children who he'd arranged to be turned in the Sixties though, only Lupin had survived long enough to go to Hogwarts, but the Lupins were oh so grateful to the great Albus Dumbledore for being so magnanimous as to allow poor, cursed little Remus to attend his school….. Fools!

Remus Lupin was a quiet, studious and brilliant boy, so Dumbledore had had to compel the hat to make it put him into Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw where he belonged, as he was to be the first of James Potter's chosen companions, to help steer him in the direction Dumbledore wanted, though it seemed that Potter had influenced Lupin more than the other way around.

Another thing that Dumbledore had tried to use to excuse his failure to see the way Riddle was turning out was the fact that he didn't have any way to know what he was doing and saying most of the time, so he'd planned to plant a spy right beside Potter to be his eyes and ears. He had any number of unimaginative but faithful followers at the time, but only one had a son the right age to be placed as a spy on Potter, so by default Peter Pettigrew became Potter's second companion. Pettigrew had none of the courage, chivalry, intelligence, interest in work or loyalty needed to be a Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, he only had greed and ambition, but having him in Slytherin wouldn't do at all, he had to be one of Potter's dorm mates so he could keep an eye on him, so the hat was compelled to put _him_ into Gryffindor too. (Dumbledore had obviously been planning the same thing with Ronald Weasley for the son, but the son apparently saw through the ploy and took steps to stop them.)

Bagnold snorted as she remembered Dumbledore spewing vitriol about Lily Evans, the one who had he blamed for derailing his plans to turn Potter into his selfless soldier to bring down Riddle (much as he'd tried with the son actually, in fact the parallels between _Harry_ Potter and his father were astounding…. as the son had _also_ found a Muggleborn witch much like Lily Evans in Hermione Granger, and together they'd thwarted Dumbledore's plans to turn him into his sacrifice, though it appeared that the son and his witch had done a rather better job of throwing off Dumbledore's yoke than his parents had, perhaps because his earlier upbringing had been more like Riddle's than his father's thanks to Dumbledore). By rights, a brilliant young witch like Evans should have been in Ravenclaw, but the hat either recognised her fire and need to fight injustice as being a stronger driver than her brilliance, or Dumbledore's interference had confused it about who it was who had to be placed in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw, because she went into Gryffindor and Potter was drawn to her like a moth to the flame….. Even forcing conflicts between Potter and her best friend Snape to turn her against him had failed because of Snape's inherent arrogance and character flaws coming out when he joined the would be (and actual) Death Eaters in his house. After Snape had destroyed whatever trust and connection there was between them, Lily Evans had began to see that perhaps James Potter wasn't so bad, though apparently the werewolf had become a friend of hers and was putting a good word in for Potter as well.

She laughed again at the memory of Dumbledore's blindness to the ways of others, as just because _he_ couldn't stand being around women (possibly because they curtailed his available preening time), he'd decided that putting Potter and Evans together as Head Boy and Head Girl would be the way to force them apart, when it had of course had the opposite effect and resulted in what most had described as one of the happiest couples they'd ever seen…..

Potter and Evans had married and conceived a child (combining the best traits of both of them to create a truly formidable wizard), then Dumbledore had interviewed that drunken sot Trelawney for a teaching job (in his brother's pub for some reason) and somehow managed to prod her into making the only true prophecy she'd ever made in her life. Allowing Snape to hang around in an attempt to turn him to the 'right' (IE: _his_ ) path, even though he knew full well that he was spying for Riddle meant that Snape heard the first half of the prophecy before Dumbledore's brother caught him listening at the door and ran him off. Snape went straight to Riddle to tell him what he'd heard with Dumbledore's blessing, as Dumbledore paid the prophecy no mind until Alice Longbottom and Lily Potter _both_ had babies 'as the seventh month dies'. When he heard that, Dumbledore suddenly decided that they were the children of the prophecy, so they had to die if he was to defeat Riddle.

She was surprised that people as strong willed as Potter and Evans had succumbed to his compulsions as easily as they did, but Dumbledore _had_ been a master of mind magics for nearly a century by then….. the fact was he managed to get them to leave the protection of the Potter Estate and 'hide' in a cottage in Godric's Hollow that he set the so-called protections on, even managing to convince them to change the secret keeper from Black to Pettigrew, who'd happily taken Riddle's mark when Dumbledore sent him to spy on his protégé. He'd also managed to convince the Longbottoms to allow him to set the fidelius over Longbottom Manor, with him as the secret keeper.

Dumbledore 'accidentally' left a note on his desk with the secret for Longbottom Manor while Snape was in his office and told him that the rat was in fact the secret keeper for the Potter's cottage in Godric's Hollow. Of course, Snape's jealousy and anger at Potter and conviction that Lily Evans had betrayed _him_ made it a simple matter to get him to convince Riddle to target the Potters first so after being punished for not telling Riddle that he was the Potters' secret keeper, the rat had told him the secret and led him to their cottage.

That was where their plans went wrong though, because while James and Lily Potter died as planned, the infant had somehow survived and Riddle was destroyed when he apparently tried to kill the child. From what Dumbledore determined, when Riddle tried to curse the child as he had its mother he was somehow struck by a blast of energy which incinerated him. The rat had come running when he heard his master screaming in agony as he burnt up, arriving to see his master turning into a pile of ash, the rat had panicked at that, so he grabbed Riddle's wand and whatever valuables he could find in the cottage then ran for his life.

Bagnold shook her head as she remembered that Dumbledore's only emotion as he recounted this story was anger at the fact that it hadn't gone as _he_ had planned. The moment the monitoring instruments showed that James and Lily Potter had died but their child hadn't, he'd hastily summoned Hagrid, casting a compulsion over him to fight off anyone who tried to take the infant from him and and sent him to the cottage to retrieve the child. He told her that while Pettigrew was still ransacking the cottage when he sent Hagrid there, he had been prepared to risk losing a loyal servant like Hagrid because he was desperate to get that child before Black did.

As it was, Hagrid had had to take the floo to Godric's Hollow and then run to the cottage from there, so Black _had_ beaten him to the cottage…. this was another thing that Dumbledore hadn't understood at the time but it was explained in Black's testimony under Veritaserum at his trial, apparently the Fates had decided that Potter and Black truly were brothers in all but blood, because they had the type of sibling bond that was normally only found in twins, so that Black had _felt_ James Potter dying.

The Potters had forced Pettigrew to share the secret to the cottage with Black so he'd apparated to the nearest point he could, but while he saw Pettigrew scampering away in his rat form when he arrived, determining whether Lily and Harry had survived was more important than dealing with the rat at that moment so he'd run into the cottage. Finding James dead down stairs as expected he paused only for a moment to grieve for his brother before rushing upstairs, to find Lily's body near a pile of ash spilling out of a wizard's robes, but his crying godson was apparently alive and well. He knew that James and Lily would demand that looking after Harry be his first priority, before he did anything about their husks or wreaking retribution on the rat for his betrayal, so he was leaving the cottage with Harry to take him to Frank and Alice when Hagrid came lumbering up the road from the centre of the village.

It was probably his overwhelming grief over his friends' deaths and rage at the rat's betrayal which made Black fail to stop and ask how Dumbledore had known to send Hagrid to collect Harry, or how he'd gotten there so quickly, but his ability to think rationally at that moment had been too compromised for him to do more any more than decide that Harry would be safe at Hogwarts so he could go after the rat before the trail went cold with a clear conscience. Therefore he handed the infant over to Hagrid with the admonition to keep him safe and requested that James and Lily's bodies be seen to properly before he took off after the rat.

That had of course not gone well, because with Dumbledore's help the rat had been able to best the mad with grief Black when he confronted him, and by then Dumbledore had managed to ensure that Fudge was convinced that getting rid of any evidence of Black's innocence would be well rewarded. She remembered that Dumbledore's arguments to send Black straight to Azkaban without a trial had been quite convincing… not that it had taken any great effort to get Crouch to agree of course, because he was a rabid dog with a one track mind.

After that, as Dumbledore had Snape send that Lestrange psychopath to Longbottom Manor with her husband, bother in law and Crouch's son to deal with the Longbottoms and the other child of prophecy, framing it as avenging their master worked for that…. but that hadn't gone to plan either as the young Lord and Lady Longbottom were both Aurors and they'd managed to hold them off long enough for the Dowager Longbottom to escape with the Heir. With two to one odds, the four strongest Death Eaters _had_ managed to overcome the Longbottoms, but then that mad witch had decided to try and _torture_ them to death, so they were still there when the Aurors that the Dowager called got there and caught them red handed. They'd tortured the Longbottoms into an insensible state, but they still lived when their rescuers arrived, at least Dumbledore had managed to make sure that they were kept in that state until Potter and Black returned to their world and rescued them.

The old fool hadn't appreciated it one bit when he discovered that she'd allowed Malfoy, Nott, Parkinson and the other Inner Circle Death Eaters who controlled the money for Riddle to buy their way out of Azkaban and go free after Riddle disappeared, but she had plans, expensive plans. Those Death Eaters were the only ones who had the sort of money she needed at the end of the war, so large piles of galleons and oaths to not oppose her bought them a ticket to walk free as pillars of society.

* * *

Looking back, she'd been a fool to take Dumbledore at his word and she'd certainly been paying for that mistake recently, but what was she to do now? In little more than two years those thrice damned Wizards Council people had somehow managed to regain all the power that their families had held seven or eight hundred years ago, before the Wizengamot was created. She'd been aware that the original Wizards Council laws still took precedence over the Wizengamot's laws, but she'd never considered that all those lines which were believed to have gone extinct centuries ago could suddenly return to Magical Britain to wrench control of the Wizengamot and Ministry out of her grasp just as she was making her move to step back in….

She'd heard all those fools whispering that this was the Fates at work, bringing their chosen ones back to restore the magical world to its former glory, she even had a traitorous voice saying the same thing in the back of her own head, but she would not allow this! She'd relinquished control of Magical Britain three years ago because Dumbledore warned her that terrible times were coming and her image would most probably suffer if she was seen to be the one who took Magical Britain there, but stepping down had allowed these bastards to return and usurp her rightful place… no more, she was going to take Magical Britain back!

It was a good thing that Dumbledore was gone actually, he had become more of a hindrance than a help and it would be much easier to cast doubt on those confessions they wrung from him if they couldn't trot him out and prove that they were true…. But how in the seven hells could she discredit them enough to wrest control from them?… She suddenly lit up with a truly evil smile of triumph as she remembered what she'd been thinking about Lockhart, yes, if she framed this properly that should be quite enough to discredit them, in fact if she played her cards right she could get them hounded out of Magical Britain, after they'd forfeited everything they owned to her Ministry of course! The biggest irritant was the fact that she'd have to wait until the witch came home for the Christmas break to set the plan in play, because they couldn't afford to raise any suspicions.

 **Second unpleasant section begins.**

She never thought that she'd be hinging her plans on a brainless little slut who had been doing her best to wear out men two or three times her age before she turned fourteen, before she was a teenager actually, but those….. _talents_ … were exactly what she needed now, well those talents and an arcane blood adoption ritual that was made forbidden centuries ago because it was more suited to line theft than anything else. She'd always had a passion for the dark arts, so much so that it had taken her a while to convince the hat to put her in Ravenclaw rather than Slytherin, but then what _true_ Slytherin would ever allow themselves to be placed there and therefore proclaim their intentions? She snorted as she remembered that that was exactly what Dumbledore _had_ done, so he'd had to alter the school records to cover it up after he became Headmaster.

The delicious little ritual she remembered required a pregnant witch, the blood of a key male of the intended line and a magical child's sacrifice, but the result was the witch being pregnant with a child in line to inherit the intended line, and this was how she would discredit the lot of them, she just needed enough blood from one of the Heads of House or their sons and they could create enough 'evidence' to convince everyone that an unforgivable crime had been committed against a defenceless fourteen year old witch, and that the rest of the Wizards Council Alliance had abused their power to try and cover it up. Once the story got about, other girls and young women could be prepared to 'prove' that these practices were actually widespread and more of them had been involved.

With any normal girl this would be a difficult, if not impossible ask, but too many stories were going around among the men and boys of her followers' houses about Miss Smith's (Hannah Abbott had reverted to her mother's maiden name) activities for them all to be lies, especially when they were corroborating each other's accounts of instances where she took on more than one at a time. They were of course going to have to create and provide her with memories which matched the story they were going to tell, how she had become pregnant as a result of being brutally raped by one or more of the men of the Wizards Council Alliance, but Millicent was well aware that due to the nature of the alleged crimes, this girl's memories would be carefully examined by experts, she was also aware that the slightest slip up could cause the whole house of cards to come crashing down.

They could not afford to make the girl give any sort of magical oath to hide any information, because if the oath were discovered it would be all but announcing that this was a fabrication…. For that reason she could not let the girl see her face or hear her name being connected to this business in any way, so she instructed the girl's guardians in what they needed to get young Hannah to agree to do. What she didn't realise though was that young Hannah Smith was an extremely nosy and sneaky little witch, so she'd followed her guardians when they were summoned to a secret meeting and unbeknownst to them or Madam Bagnold, she had seen and heard the entire discussion.

When they came to her to try and convince her of the need to do this, to have wild and rough sex with a number of men until she was pregnant, so that they could switch the baby's blood with another's in order to use the physical evidence to support the story that she'd been brutally raped and became pregnant as a result of that to bring down their opponents, she used the knowledge of how high the stakes were to force them to give her unbreakable vows to ensure that she'd receive suitable reward for doing this, a significant fortune in her name that was untouchable by anyone else, _and_ the assurance that she'd become the wife and lady of the young and attractive scion of a rich noble family who'd caught her eye... she _had_ had her eye on Cedric Diggory, because like many girls at Hogwarts she'd had a crush on him since she started there, but his idiot father had ruined everything by disgracing the family and being all but thrown out of Magical Britain so she'd had to select a more appropriate husband.

Once the requisite agreements had all been locked in, she dove into the task with great enthusiasm, and eventually, after nearly five months of having wild sex at every opportunity with everyone from boys her age to men over three times her age, which often left her bruised, battered and bleeding but quite satisfied (in the Muggle world she would have been diagnosed as a sex addict with masochistic tendencies, but the Magical world just thought that she was as twisted as Bellatrix Lestrange), she was pregnant. They waited just long enough to ensure that the pregnancy was viable before they performed the blood switching ritual, using George Weasley's blood because he was the only one that they'd managed to get enough blood for the ritual from. Once that was done, they removed her memories of the agreement she'd made and all the sex she'd been having in the previous months (keeping a copy of them at her insistence so that she could go back and view them at her pleasure), inserting in their place fabricated memories of her being gang raped by the Weasley brothers, Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin which were in turn partially removed to make it look like they'd been corrupted when someone tried to remove the evidence of who had raped her, as the fabricated memories would not hold up as proof if they could be questioned.

Given the fact that Amelia Bones was now Amelia Weasley and she and Arthur Weasley were connected to all of the other players by blood and/or political alliances, getting the so-called rapists arrested and showing 'proof' that the Director of Foreign and Domestic Liaisons, Director of Magical Law Enforcement and Minister for Magic had all been involved in trying to cover up their crimes to protect the rapists should be enough to bring them all down, especially when that 'proof' included reports of other witches with similar physical evidence of violent sexual activity who had been allegedly been raped by the same wizards in the past and had their memories altered or removed to cover it up.

 **Second unpleasant section ends**.

When Hannah Smith was taken to St Mungo's, at first it looked as though Bagnold's plan was going to work, because all the physical evidence appeared to support the story that she'd been brutally raped by a number of men, and that the perpetrators had attempted to cover up their crime by wiping the memory of the act. Seeing the faces revealed in the fragments of memories that apparently remained from the event was shocking, but every one of them willingly submitted to coming in for questioning under Veritaserum and having their memories examined for any trace of this alleged crime when it was common knowledge that they had properties all over the world and had the means to travel to them from just about anywhere, which made the Aurors stop and think.

These wizards had some of the most solid reputations of anyone in Magical Britain or Europe, it was commonly known that the majority of witches in Magical Britain would have _willingly_ had sex with any of them (more than a few of the Aurors had had disturbingly frank discussions with their wives, partners and daughters about the fact that they'd have had Sirius/Remus/Harry/Neville/Fred or George in a heartbeat if they thought they could get away with it) and they were among the richest and most powerful wizards in Magical Britain, so the idea that they'd risk everything to gang rape a young witch who wasn't particularly attractive, apparently had a reputation for being a 'doorknob' (everyone has a turn) in Hogwarts and beyond and who they'd already punished quite effectively by destroying and eradicating her family was extremely questionable.

Quite aside from that, many of the older Aurors had worked with Duke Black, Minister Longbottom and Countess Longbottom before they had their troubles and they were sure that they would _never_ be involved in raping a young witch _or_ helping cover a crime of that nature up, and for that matter to all evidence, Duke Potter was something of a saint…. No, the more they thought about it, the more convinced they were that this rape story and all the other so-called evidence that was suddenly coming out of the woodwork was more than a little suspicious.

They used the excuse that in the initial rush to treat Miss Smith, the required processes hadn't been followed so the memories taken from her hadn't been properly certified to have her brought back in, and the Mind Healer made sure she got copies of _everything_ in the girl's head this time. The Mind Healer believed herself to be a mature, open minded witch who was inured to the ways of the world, but she was shocked by what she found buried deep in this young girl's memories about what she'd found to be great fun. The fact that the half removed 'memories' of the rape weren't as violent as other activities where she'd clearly been a willing and eager participant was seen as proof that she was part of this plot to frame the most prominent members of the Wizards Council Alliance, but the 'smoking gun', as the Muggles say, was her memory of watching ex-Minister Bagnold instructing the girl's guardians on what they needed to get her to agree to do.

The memory of the ex-Minister detailing exactly what the girl had to agree to and do, and what they'd then do to change her pregnancy and physical evidence into evidence against the Wizards Council people to bring them down was what they didn't have before now, definitive proof that Millicent Bagnold was the one who had been behind the majority of the plots against them over the past two years. But it was the fact that Bagnold quite clearly stated that she was the one who had to perform the blood switching ritual because she didn't trust anyone else to do it properly, and that ritual required a magical child to be sacrificed which had her sentenced to be put through the Veil of Death, because that ritual had been done, the child's remains were found on her estate and she hadn't prepared anyone to take the fall for this because she'd never considered the possibility that it could come out. This memory also gave the DMLE what it needed to search the estates of everyone else involved until they found the memories that Hannah had insisted on keeping, which in turn ensured that her guardians and most of the wizards she'd had sex with went to Azkaban for a long time, it also resulted in the Noble House of Bagnold and another fourteen of the traditional Pureblood houses being eradicated and their titles, holdings and belongings being claimed by members of the Wizards Council Alliance. Over ninety percent of the Wizengamot was made up of the Alliance and the Neutral Houses after that.

What to do to Hannah Smith was a quandary, she was clearly a danger to Magical Britain, the wizards in particular, but she was still only fourteen and she hadn't exactly done anything that justified Azkaban or the Veil of Death. When Harry stood and suggested an alternative that would remove her as a threat to Magical Britain, but most likely wouldn't cause any great hardship to her, the vast majority of the Wizengamot was shocked and horrified, but as they gave it careful consideration, one by one the members voted for his suggestion. It was interesting to note that the witches in the chamber acquiesced first, but after a while enough votes had been cast to be accepted as a quorum and it passed with a strong majority after the Wizards Council votes were cast (they held off until it was clear that the remainder of the Wizengamot agreed with the measure).

That was why Hannah Smith was stripped of her magic and had all memories of the Magical world removed before being placed with a Squib family in the Mundane (they were starting to adopt that less derogatory term used elsewhere) world to be re-educated so that she could become part of that world. Hannah had been a mediocre witch, and she would have had to be memory wiped and totally reprogrammed to be a part of the Magical world without presenting a constant threat to anyone she decided had crossed her. There were no guarantees that she could have been changed enough to stop being a threat, and many of the Wizengamot were unhappy with the idea that she escaped punishment after willingly being part of something so disgusting as this and the other plots against the Wizards Council Houses, that was why Harry's suggestion was accepted once the Wizengamot members managed to get past their ingrained horror at the idea of a witch or wizard losing their magic.

This way, even if the reprogramming slipped, she would not be as much of a danger to others without her magic, and she could go back to her old ways without causing rifts between the houses of Magical Britain. She could probably have a relatively happy life, doing what she enjoyed doing without realising or missing what she had lost, with the biggest risk being that she was more likely to become a teenaged mother.

After they'd agreed that her punishment was appropriate, other members of the Wizengamot proposed and seconded that the punishment for the wizards formerly known as Earnest Macmillan, Zacharias Smith, Anthony Goldstein, Blaise Zambini and Theodore Nott and the witches formerly known as Pansy Parkinson and Marietta Edgecombe be the same, and the vote for this passed. They had all been actively involved in the plots over the last two to three years, but the Wizengamot had been unwilling to sentence them to Azkaban because of their youth. This solution offered by Duke Potter though effectively removed the threat that they posed to Magical Britain, while allowing the possibility of their magical blood being returned to Magical Britain when they had children, which was for the good of Magical Britain.

* * *

To anyone who bothered looking, Magical Britain was going through a period of major change. After being under the control of the Pureblood bigots for at least half a millennium, many of them were now leaving Britain, in search of new homes that would be more conducive to their own beliefs. In the space of less than two years the Ministry had gone from an institution where you needed to be a Pureblood if you wanted any worthwhile job and Muggleborns were almost non-existent to one where the only Purebloods left were the ones who were actually qualified for the positions they held, and if they were going for a job, they had to prove that they were more qualified than anyone of other backgrounds to get it over them. The position of werewolves (or rather ex-werewolves) had changed even more, because where they were likely to be killed by any Aurors they may run into two or three years ago, their enhanced speed, strength, senses and the like now made them the preferred candidates for Aurors, in fact 'ordinary' witches and wizards had to be pretty special to be considered over the ex-weres. These changes were happening at Hogwarts too, because the classes were swelling as ex-were children were coming to Hogwarts for the first time.

Some of the 'normal' students weren't happy about this, because the ex-weres were eager to learn and make up for the time they'd missed, so they were working much harder and making the other students work harder or fall behind (as one of the first changes that had been implemented when Minerva took over was that students could progress at whatever pace they were comfortable with, if they picked up the subjects notably faster than the majority of the students in their class, they could skip ahead to the next year, if they were notably slower to pick up subjects, they were generally held back or put back a year, gone were the days when the class was kept at the pace of the lowest common denominator, which was generally the children of the traditional Purebred families who had been playing in a shallow gene pool for too long).

The ex-were children also had the same advantages as the ex-were adults, so it was difficult for 'normal' witches and wizards to keep up with them, and as Harry, Hermione and the others had been taught, a witch or wizard's magical strength and endurance is linked to their physical strength and endurance, so the ex-were's were generally magically stronger than most of the other witches or wizards as well. (This was creating a problem in their society that they hadn't considered at first, because some witches or wizards were now hunting down werewolves in hope that that they would be turned in order to gain the ex-weres' benefits once they were cured. Of course they didn't consider the fact that they may not survive either being turned or their first transformations, or that they may not be able to shake the call of the wolf or being under the thrall of the pack alpha. They were working to find a solution to this problem before it became too big.)

It was generally accepted that Magical Britain was entering a new golden age…. They had lost most of the traditional 'Pureblood' Houses and many witches and wizards had lost their lives or their magic in their struggle to retain what they called 'the old ways', but they were like the phoenix, they had been forged in the fire of change and came out stronger. The remaining traditional Pureblood houses still complained that the original ways of Magical Britain had been abandoned, failing to see the irony that what they were complaining about was the fact that the original guiding families had returned to _reinstate_ the original ways by wiping out the hypocritical 'Pureblood' nonsense that they'd been forcing on everyone else for centuries, ever since they wrested control of Magical Britain out of the hands of those who'd been guiding it from the early days of the Druids.

Everyone else seemed to be quickly coming around to the idea of a society that was embracing both Magical and Mundane ideas, that the mark of a person wasn't whether their parents could trace their magical heritage back through several generations without a break, it was how they behaved and what they could do, magically or otherwise. The biggest shock was that a 'person' was no longer defined as a witch or wizard under the new laws, because goblins, elves and centaurs were recognised as having equal rights under the law, as were Mundane, or Non-Magical people. This particular change came out of Frank, Amelia and Arthur officially working with Her Majesty's representatives, because the Wizengamot was forced to formally acknowledge that Magical Britain _was_ part of her Majesty's realm, and that the overarching laws of Great Britain applied in Magical Britain.

One of the results of these new laws was that there were goblin and elf businesses opening up in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade (mostly in properties owned by the Houses of Potter and Black, but most people didn't realise that) because the laws prohibiting them from owning and operating businesses had been repealed. Another was that house elves were officially free beings who had to be paid for their service (as slavery was illegal in Britain), the agreed pay was generally just a token amount to serve the letter of the law but a lot of families who had been relying on elves for centuries objected to the changes. The ones who left Magical Britain because of that got a nasty shock because they were prevented from removing 'their' elves from Britain, and they found that most of the rest of the Magical world had similar laws anyway as they'd historically been interfacing with the Mundane world more than Magical Britain did.

There was no question that the rest of the Magical world generally saw the changes in Magical Britain as a good thing, as families and businesses that had abandoned Magical Britain centuries ago were now returning to help it regain its former glory.

When things began to quieten down, the family had a movie night in the cinema that Harry had had built at Potter Manor. When they watched the original Wizard of Oz, the Magically raised ones who had been there when Millicent Bagnold was put through the Veil of Death for sacrificing a magical child in the forbidden blood switching ritual finally recognised what Harry was humming as she went through the Veil, still screaming threats and imprecations….. and they had to agree that Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead _was_ quite appropriate for that moment!

 ** **I**** ** **can't really see much point drawing this one out any further, so this is a good place**** ** **to finish it**** ** **, thanks for reading.****


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